


Mind Without Reality

by CrystalGirl259



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Based on a True Story, Kai-centric, M/M, Nya is the older siblings, Ray is an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 24,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalGirl259/pseuds/CrystalGirl259
Summary: AU. Loosely based on the actual events of one of the most horrific cases of child abuse ever to be documented; this tells the tale of a young boy that was locked in a room for over fourteen years...
Relationships: Jay Walker/Zane, Kai & Nya (Ninjago), Maya/Ray (Ninjago)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

Dark was the night as the full moon shined over the great city of Ninjago as the heavy rains descended and thunder boomed through the cold night. The city of Ninjago was built at the base of a mighty mountain and by a soft, golden beach and was truly an architectural display of wonder. Its uniqueness was only matched by the backdrop of majestic forests which have helped shape the city into what it was today. The climate these forests brought was of great importance.

They were also influential when it came to architectural designs as the vast majority of buildings had been built with both materials and stylistic shapes of the beautiful forests.

The city's skyline was scattered with stylish skyscrapers and there was no place on earth with anything like this. The technology business was really thriving in Ninjago City and it had attracted a lot of attention. The old city had a very clear Japan, Tokyo feeling to it. Many new cultures had also left their mark not just on the city's cuisine, but also upon the city's identity. What historically was a city of few cultures had grown into a multicultural hub and it was this that united the 9 million people to this day.

It was this multicultural identity that had truly left its mark.

There were hundreds of different concession stands, diners, and food carts that offered a plethora of culinary choices. The ones who feel hungry for something else could enjoy the many art galleries, the city exploring nature, or one of the many other different recreational venues. The people of this big, grand city were going about their own business whether it was laughing with friends or just doing whatever they pleased. They were completely unaware that in a nice house near the edge of the city something horrifying was happening.

In fact, this kind of torture had been happening for nearly fifteen long, agonizing years.

From the outside, this house of hidden horrors looked very intimate and cozy and anybody who walked past was all in awe of this house's incredible beauty. It had been built with bright white stones and had faded yellow pine wooden decorations. Small, squared windows added to the overall style of the house. This house was equipped with a small, fancy kitchen and one large bathroom. It also had a rather large living room, four nice bedrooms, a modest-looking dining area, and a small basement.

The second floor had a different style than the floor below.

The roof was low and v-shaped and was covered with black ceramic tiles. Two small chimneys poked out the center of the roof. A few large windows would let in just enough sunlight to the rooms below. The house itself was surrounded by a gorgeous garden, including various trees, bushes, flowers, and a small pond. All of this was just a carefully constructed mask, however. For in this house lived a man named Ray Smith with his wife Maya Smith and their daughter Nya Smith; and another poor, unfortunate soul.

Ray Smith was a tall man who had charcoal black spikey hair with a mustache and a small goatee and bright amber eyes.

He wore a dark red long-sleeved shirt with dark grey pants and large black boots. Maya Smith had long, dark brown hair that went down to her waist and stunning aqua blue eyes. She wore a soft cyan-blue blouse top with midnight blue jeans and matching high heels. She uses to work at a local hair salon. Unfortunately, not too long after her daughter's fifth birthday, she was suddenly involved in a car accident. Due to the injuries she received, it cost Maya to lose her job and when she lost her job she wasn't allowed to leave the house unless Ray was with her at all times.

He told people he was just worried she could hurt herself and that he wanted to protect her.

It was a devasting blow, but everyone thought the family seemed to be coping. Their daughter Nya was a smart girl who had nearly finished highschool. She had long black hair kept in a tight ponytail, pale pink lipstick, small dimples on her cheeks with dark brown eyes, and she had a small beauty mark on her right cheek. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt with blue stripes and dark blue torn jeans. Ray had a very stable job in the city while his wife stayed to take care of the house.

Nya was incredibly smart and would be going to a very good local college next year.

Even though the Smith family liked to keep to themselves and never allowed visitors, to the outside world, the Smith family truly seemed to be the perfect family. What people didn't know was that Ray Smith wasn't a very nice man. He was a rather short-tempered and paranoid person. While he had never raised a hand to his wife and daughter they both were still terrified at what he'd do to them if they tried to help the main target of his aggression.

The last person in this house was Ray and Maya's second child and their only son, Kai Smith.

He was fourteen years old going on fifteen. Kai had shoulder-length, thick light brown hair, and amber eyes that screamed for help or to be put out of his misery. He had sickly, unnaturally pale skin with a faint Y-shaped scar over his right eye. He was nothing but skin and bones and he looked like he hadn't had a bath in years, smelt like it too. No one outside the Smith house knew of Kai's existence. When he was a toddler, Ray locked his only son in the back room.

He had tied his son's hands and feet to a potty chair during the day.

At night Ray would be tied to his small wooden barred crib with a pull-down chicken wire top. The brunette had spent all of his life in that dark prison cell his family called his room. Ray had ordered the girls never to talk or see Kai. He did allow some exceptions, however, and would occasionally allow Maya to see her son. It broke her heart to see her baby in such a state, but there was nothing she could do. With little contact, aside from his father coming in to feed him or his mother and older sister sneaking in before Ray got home to feed him a cookie, Kai never learned to speak or even walk...

* * *

In the Smith Family home, things were somewhat peaceful. The family had just finished dinner so now Maya was sat on the couch watching the TV, Nya was listening to music on her phone while reading a teen magazine Ray had yet to take off her. They were trying to ignore the sound of Ray messing around with something in the kitchen. Occasionally, Nya glanced at the hallway where her brother's room was. Her heart ached at the thought of her little brother.

She had only been in the room a handful of times and every time made her sick to her stomach.

It was dark in that room. It had three windows but Ray had covered all of them with newspapers, blocking most of the sunlight out. It was all grey and lifeless. The only color in that room were the few plastic baby bowls and cups Ray hadn't taken out of the room yet. Earlier that day Nya had given him an old children's fairytale book she had found. Even though she knew he couldn't read she knew Kai loved looking at the pictures. When she looked through it, she found Ray and scribbled over some of the pictures with a black marker, mainly over the characters' private parts.

He always did this with every book in the house, even some of Nya's magazines.

Neither she nor Maya knew why Ray did that, or any of the other things. Nya was suddenly distracted from her thoughts when she saw her father leaving the kitchen. He headed to the back room with a bowl of baby food in his hand as he stomped down the hall to his son's room. When he entered he saw Kai where he had left him, tied to the potty chair, staring and running his fingers over the pages of the storybook Nya had given him in curiosity, a blank look on his pale face.

The boy's hair was mattered and he was covered in dirt.

He was almost completely naked aside from the filthy tank top that hung loosely on his son's frail, trembling body. Ray glared and smacked the old book out of Kai's hands and started forcing the baby food down his son's mouth. He growled in frustration as the brunette struggled to keep down the soggy food.

"SWALLOW!" He shouted and tried to force more food down his throat.

This time, however, Kai nearly choked on the food and coughed it up on his father's chest and Ray finally snapped. He dunked his hand in the food and started to rub it against the boy's face. He continued to yell and growl as he smacked Kai across the face over and over again. Ray hated doing this, but it was for everyone's own good, including Kai's. As he continued his assault on his son, Maya closed her eyes, trying not to cry, as she tried to drown out her son's screams in pain by covering her ears with her hands while Nya turned her music up, but Kai and Ray still kept on screaming and shouting...


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, after things in the Smith house had finally quieted down a bit, Kai was now restrained in the large crib in the corner of the room. A few years ago, Kai had started moving around in the crib and because he was a little too big for the crib, he would sometimes break the wooden bars. Kai didn't realize what he was doing as he rocked and shifted around the crib. In his mind, Kai was just trying to discover his body and when he was alone in the crib it was the only time he could over move his limbs around.

Sometimes, when this happened, Kai would accidentally get splinters in his arms and he would scream and cry in pain.

Not wanting to keep buying a new crib and not wanting Kai to hurt himself anymore, Ray came up with an idea. He had taken an old sweater and made it more like a straight jacket for his son. The ends of the sweater's sleeves had been fastened to the edges of the crib. Kai's face was still red, sore, and still covered in the baby food from earlier. Instead of sleeping, however, his dull amber eyes kept darting around the dark cell-like room, looking for something.

The brunette just didn't know what it was he was looking for yet.

Outside the room and upstairs, Nya was fast asleep in her own room. Her eyes were twitching every once in a while as the event of the day kept replaying in her mind. All she wanted was to take her little brother and mother and run as far away from here as she could get. She could only hope that Maya could finally convince Ray to keep his promise. In their own room, Maya was lying on her and Ray's bed, not daring to move a muscle as she stared at the wall.

Ray was sat in his usual chair by the dressing table on the other side of the bed, messing with an old pistol.

"Ray, you promised me," Maya whispered faintly, slowly lifting her head to her husband. Ray didn't even pay any attention to her, however, and continued to mess with his gun. "You promised me that if he lived past the age of 12 then we could get him some help." She added, her voice becoming more clear. Ray simply smiled at his wife and aimed his gun at her. Luckily for her, it wasn't loaded.

"Bang." He laughed as she flinched when she heard the gun click. Maya fearfully laid her head back on the pillow, blinking the tears out of her eyes...

* * *

Early the next morning Ray had the day off work so he went out to buy some groceries, leaving his wife and children home alone. However, because they lived fairly closed to the store, Maya knew her husband wouldn't be gone for too long. Once she was sure he was really gone, Maya grabbed her crutches and made her way up the stairs. She went into Nya's room and found her daughter. The two girls quickly ran to Kai's cell. They saw Kai still curled up in the crib, completely naked as a newborn.

His eyes were wide open as they darted between his mother and sister in curiosity and confusion.

He had been expected the angry man with food for him, not the nice ladies. Maya smiled gently at her son as she clutched the clothes she had bought him tightly to her chest, trying to stop the tears, as Nya unlocked the chicken wired lid and lifted it up.

"He's going to kill me, you know that right?! I'm as good as dead!" Nya glared as she uncuffed Kai and lifted him out of the crib. He was so small and dirty it was scary to her, but she tried to focus on the task at hand. She wanted to get Kai out of here as much as Maya, but this was too big a risk in her opinion. She wanted to call the police, but Maya said she didn't want Nya to get in trouble. Since she was also living in the house, they might think Nya had abused Kai as well.

"Just tell him you don't know where we are, you woke up and we were both gone," Maya replied as Nya held up a naked Kai and helped her mother changed him into some clean clothes.

"Oh yeah, and how did you get away?! You can't do anything for yourself!" She exclaimed and gestured to Maya's crutches.

"I-I don't know, you'll have to think of something!"...

* * *

It felt like forever, but Maya and Kai finally made it to the city hall. It had taken so long to get there because of Maya relying on her crutches and Kai clinging to her back as they both limped down the streets. Maya was so scared that Ray might drive past and see her and she kept looking over her shoulder. Thankfully he was nowhere to be seen, and if he had returned home already, Maya hoped Nya was alright. After entering the city hall, Maya frowned in confusion as she tried to find what she was looking for.

After wandering around for a few minutes, Maya had no choice but to walk up to a desk.

"Is this where you handle the disabled?" She whimpered as Kai's grip tightened in fear at all the people around them.

"No miss, this is Social Services; if you just go back there you should find it." The lady at the desk smiled and Maya almost instantly paled when the woman said Social Services.

"Um, could you lead me there?" Maya asked, trying not to let the woman know how scared she was. "I'm a little lost and the woman on the phone said I could come down here and claim some benefits." She explained as the woman at the desk finally saw Kai hiding behind Maya. The woman tried to look behind Maya and she frowned in concern when she got a look at the boy. The teen was dirty, pale, frail, skinny, and was around the size of a seven-year-old.

"Who's that with you?" She asked and Kai quickly hid behind his mother in terror as she broke into a cold sweat.

"That's my son Kai."

"How old are you Kai?"

"He'll be fifteen in June." Maya quickly replied and the lady at the desk looked at her in horror...


	3. Chapter 3

Within an hour Maya and Ray Smith were arrested and taken down to the police station, where they were photographed and fingerprinted. Maya flinched and sobbed at each bright flash of the camera whereas Ray stayed stoic, not saying a single word. The police had kept the couple separated, which Maya was grateful for. She had no idea what Ray would do to her if he saw her. Their son was taken away to a hospital and Nya moved away to a friend's house.

Thankfully Nya wasn't arrested or charged with the abuse of her brother.

She would be appearing in court to testify in her mother's defense, however, and all three of them were forbidden from trying to contact Kai. Ray and Maya were at the police station for the entire day until they were allowed to leave on bail. After getting released on bail that evening Ray managed to weave his way through the mob of reporters, got in his car, and drove back home. He was silently seething in rage at Maya's betrayal. She knew why he did what he did to Kai and he never harmed her or Nya, so he didn't understand why she betrayed him and destroyed their family.

He wanted to confront her, but one of his bail conditions was that he didn't contact his wife or either of his children.

Maya had also been released on bail but she had gone to stay with Nya and her friend's house until the trail. As he drove back home, Ray decided that the silence was too much so he turned on the radio, only to freeze when he heard what was being said on all radio channels.

 _ **"Today, officials in Ninjago City have taken custody of a 14-year-old boy who they say was kept in such isolation by his parents that he never even learned to talk or walk."**_ One presenter said. _**"The boy was still wearing diapers and was making infant-like noises when the police found him earlier today-"**_

_**"Kai Ash Smith is currently being treated at Children's Hospital for malnutrition and the doctor's are still hoping he still has a normal learning capacity-"** _

_**"His parents are free on bail tonight and will be facing charges in what people are calling the worse case of child abuse they have ever seen and because of his inability to walk or speak the people have given him the title 'Wild Child'."**_ The third one finished and Ray had finally had enough. He quickly turned off the radio and pulled over to the side of an empty road. Sat alone in a dark car in deafening silence, Ray finally broke. He placed his head on the steering wheel and started sobbing loudly...

* * *

The next day, Maya was taken to court for the crime of the worst case of child abuse the city had ever seen. Maya had caught a glimpse of Nya before the teen was lead away. There wasn't any sign of Ray yet. He would have to show up eventually though. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. Thanks to all the press coverage, everyone knew what had happened to their son, Maya had even received death threats. If Ray tried to flee the country he would be caught the second he left the house.

That was the only thing that allowed Maya to get a little sleep at night.

The thought of Ray facing justice for his crimes against their baby boy. As her lawyer lead her into the courthouse a swarm of journalists pounced on them with flashing cameras and firing questions at her.

"Mrs. Smith is a victim of her domineering husband, that is all we have to say on the matter." Her lawyer said before slamming the door in their face. The two adults quietly entered the courtroom and took their seats as everyone sat in the galley whispered and talked among themselves. Some even not-so-quietly whispered threats and harsh words at her.

"All rise!" The court officer called as the judge walked in and everyone quickly stood up.

"Be seated." Another court officer said and everyone sat back down.

"State versus Maya Jillian Smith, you are charged with willful, gross neglect of a minor placed in your custody, how do you plead?" The judge asked and Maya stood frozen for a brief moment, all her troubled thoughts and emotions swirling around in her mind. She was brought out of her trance when her lawyer gave her a questioning look. She looked the judge dead in the eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"I plead not guilty your honor."...

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Smith house, Ray Smith was cooped up in the now-empty house. He had no idea where his wife or daughter were staying with Nya's friend and he knew that no one in their right mind would let him near his son at the hospital. He was all alone now. Ray didn't get a wink of sleep last night. He was sat in the living room, staring into nothing until the sun shined faintly through the curtains. It was almost time for his trail, so Ray went upstairs and pulled out an old, dusty tux from the closet.

It wasn't the best, but it was all he had.

He considered grabbing whatever money had had at the house and flee the city, but he knew it would useless. Thanks to those vultures from the press, his and his family's name had been dragged through the mud and everyone knew who he was. His only hope was for the judge and jury would understand his reasons for doing what he did. Soon, Ray was ready to go and make the court see sense. Just as he was about to leave to go to court he heard a car pulling up outside his house.

He took a quick peek through the curtains looking out to the front lawn and saw a journalist getting out of the car and waiting for him to leave the house.

Ray quickly backed away from the window before anyone could see him peeking out at them. He gritted his teeth and ran his hand through his hair as he paced around the living room. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do anymore. All he wanted was for the pain to go away. Then he suddenly stopped moving and his eyes dulled as an idea blossomed in his mind. Ray silently went into the basement and when he returned he laid a plastic tarp on the floor, not wanting to get blood on the floor.

More reporters pulled up outside his house.

Even a few of his close neighbors came out to see what was happening with his family. He quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper and placed it neatly on a table next to a beautifully framed picture of his dearly departed mother. Once that was over and done with Ray went into his room and grabbed his old pistol. He calmly stood on the plastic tarp and placed the barrel of the gun at his forehead. Just seconds before he pulled the trigger, however, he took a quick glance at the note on the coffee table.

The letter containing Ray Smith's final words only said a simple sentence.

The world will never understand...


	4. Chapter 4

Zane Julien sighed as he and his best friend Jay Walker waited in the lobby of the Children's Hospital in Ninjago City. The two of them were researchers who had been chosen to study the new 'Wild Child'. They were both around twenty-four years old and had just graduated. Zane and Jay lived together in a cozy apartment not too far from the hospital. Jay reddish-brown curly hair with sharp brown eyebrows and light freckles with dark blue eyes.

He wore a blue jacket with a white stripe over a white t-shirt and blue pants with a comfy orange wooly scarf.

Zane had platinum blonde, almost completely white, hair that stood up straight in something like a crew cut and bright icy blue eyes. He wore white pants and shoes with a long-sleeved, cyan blue shirt under a navy blue knitted vest. Just then another research and a doctor at this hospital named Dr. Garmadon walked over to them. Garmadon was an elderly man with ash grey hair and kind silver eyes. He wore the typical doctor uniform and a friendly smile.

They followed Garmadon to a small room with a giant display window and door that led to another large room full of children's toys, puzzles, games, and bright colors.

On one of the chairs was an elderly man with a long white beard. At the other side of the room was Kai Smith. He was out of those rags and now wore a hospital gown but he still had dark circles around his eyes, was still horribly pale and when he walked he took only baby steps and waddled like a penguin. He was also still skinny as a frail stick. The hospital had given him a bath, clearing all the muck off him. They had also washed his hair and now it was soft, clean, and stood up in natural spikes.

He was currently sat on the ground playing with a brown teddy bear.

The elderly man smiled softly at Kai as he gently encouraged him to play with other toys and games.

"That's Kai's therapist and my brother Dr. Wu," Garmadon explained. "He's been trying to teach Kai some new words."

"That poor boy," Jay muttered as he stared at the frail teen as he ran his fingers through the bear's fur. "I was expecting... I-I don't know." He admitted and Garmadon nodded in response.

"Well, how many words has he learned?" Zane asked as he watched Wu try to talk to Kai but the brunette seemed to be too occupied playing with the teddy. The frail teen suddenly leaned forward and picked up a rubber ducky.

"My brother claims he's heard him use some words like 'Mama' and 'Dada' and I've heard him use some colors." He explained. "We gathered that he learned those before he was locked away, but so far he hasn't picked up any new ones." He sighed as Jay glared as he thought about the boy's parents.

"Would you like to go in and see him?" Garmadon asked with a smile. They both slowly nodded, not taking their eyes off the skinny boy.

"Are you sure about this?" Zane asked.

"Yes, oh, and remember, don't speak loudly and if gets all up in your face just let him do what he wants." Garmadon quickly reminded them and with that, the door opened and they stepped inside. The elderly man and the brunette didn't seem to notice them.

"Do you like the toy duck? Kai, what color is that?" Dr. Wu asked as Kai played with the duck. Zane smiled a little as they watched.

"Kai, do you remember me?" Garmadon suddenly asked and the teen's head shot up when he heard the man's voice. "I'm Dr. Garmadon and I've brought two friends with me." He smiled but Kai just stared at him. The doctor turned to Zane and Jay and nodded.

"Hi honey, I'm Jay." The ginger man smiled as they walked up to Kai and knelt down next to him. "This is my friend Zane, we're very happy to meet you, sweetie." He beamed, only to jump back slightly when Kai suddenly reached out his hands and started to mess with Zane's hair. While Garmadon and his brother smiled Jay had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Zane didn't dare move as the teen went from feeling his hair to his face...

* * *

Later that day the four doctors and Kai were sat in the hospital's cafeteria eating some lunch. Many children, their families, and doctors walked past them, some even casting the odd glance at Kai. While Zane and the others at their table tried to eat their own food Kai kept stuffing the crackers he had been given into his mouth, hardly chewing any of them. Zane and Jay looked at the other two doctors in confusion. Garmadon and his brother shared a look and the older of the two sighed.

"Apparently Ray didn't give him enough time to chew his food so Kai just stuffs it in and waits for it to break down in his mouth," Garmadon explained. Jay glared at his plate while Zane looked at the boy sadly. Just then one of the dinner ladies walked up to them holding a plastic green bucket from the toy room.

"Hey sugar pie, I've got a little present for you." She said sweetly and gave Kai the bucket. The teen quickly grabbed it and started to feel the surface with his fingers in fascination.

"How did you know he wanted that?" Garmadon asked the lunch lady.

"He told me." She replied as if it was obvious.

"He did?" Zane asked the lunch lady in confusion. The entire time they had been there they hadn't heard or seen Kai go up to that lady and ask her for that bucket.

"Well he didn't use real words but he told me just the same." She shrugged and with that the lady left and the four scientists stared at Kai in shock and awe as he smiled and put the bucket up against his face and rub it against his cheeks, enjoying the cold, smooth feeling of the plastic...


	5. Chapter 5

It had been about five days since Zane and Jay had first met Kai in the hospital. At that time the doctors at the hospital deemed that the abused teen was well enough for him to start attending a special school in hopes the teachers could help him learn how to speak and be a somewhat normal child. So now Zane was sat at the back of a classroom full of 2-3-year-olds and watched Kai as he took it all in. At the front of the class was the teacher, Dr. Krux Saunders.

He was a very experienced teacher who specialized in helping children from troubled backgrounds and/or with special needs.

Krux had short grey hair and a small grey mustache with dark forest green eyes. He wore a clean, dark red shirt with smart black pants and boots. At the front of the class with him was a girl with long blonde hair in a wheelchair. Next to the girl was a boy with ginger hair in a purple hoodie and next to him was Kai. Kai had gotten a bit more color in his pale skin and he had put more meat on his bones. He was taller than the other children but still was the right height for a teen his age.

All three of them were holding small, colorful balloons.

"OK Sasha, how many balloons do you have?" Krux asked a small girl.

"Four."

"And how about you Nelson, how many balloons do you have?"

"Three." The boy replied and Kai whipped around to look at the balloons in Nelson's hands in confusion.

"I think you want to take another look at those balloons, is it three? Or is it actually two?" Krux asked with a sweet smile. As Nelson thought long and hard about the number of balloons in his hand, Kai suddenly shoved his own balloon into the little boy's hands. Zane quickly wrote down what he had seen in his notebook.

"Well thanks to Kai, it's now certainly three." The teacher chuckled as he stood up and gave Kai a gentle hug. "Very good Kai." He whispered as they parted.

"G-Good." He mimicked and Zane's eyes widened. It was the first time he had ever heard Kai speak. The other doctors and even Jay said that Kai sometimes said a word every once in a while, but Zand hadn't heard anything until now. He quickly looked down and wrote it all down in his notebook...

* * *

After another hour in the classroom, playtime came around and all the little children, Zane and Kai were led outside playing on the different types of playground equipment and toys. Zane smiled faintly as he silently watched as Krux showed Kai how to play with the different colored toy cars in the sandbox in the center of the playground. He was continuously taking notes as he watched Kai play. It was nice to see the brunette being allowed to finally be a child for once in his life.

As he finished taking his notes he looked up and noticed Krux walking over to him.

"Hello Dr. Saunders, my name is Dr. Zane Julien." He said calmly and extended his hand towards the teacher.

"So you're the one the hospital has trusted to teach this child how to talk?" The teacher laughed, a bit too coldly. "I would have thought that with the money the government gave them they would get a professional."

"Well, they hired me because I have no time constraints or family obligations." He explained, a little put off by his tone.

"No experience." He added with a smirk. "Do you really think that you're actually qualified to teach this boy how to speak?" He mocked as some kids ran around them.

"I am not here to teach him how to talk, I am here to document how he goes about acquiring language, there is a huge difference."

"Whatever." The teacher sneered and walked over to some children who were fighting about something. Zane glared at him before he went to find Kai. He soon found him sat on one of the swings as one of the teachers gave him a small push, barely moving him at all as to not scare the frightened boy. The brunette was a little unsettled by the swing but he made no effort to leave.

"So Kai, are you having fun?" He asked as he walked over to the teen with a smile. The teacher helped Kai off the swing and the boy quickly sat down and started playing with a fire engine. He smiled and held up the fire engine he was playing with.

"Red!" He exclaimed happily to Zane.

"Yes, that's red." He smiled and sat beside Kai who was pushing the fire engine back and forth...


	6. Chapter 6

After a few days of Kai attending school, the doctors at the hospital believed he was ready to see more places, such as parks and stores, or just more of the outside world in general. So the next Saturday afternoon and Zane and Dr. Wu brought Kai to a grocery store almost next door to the hospital and watched as the brunette eagerly examine all the different things in the store. He kept picking up random items and rubbing them over his face and mouth.

Zane tried to stop him from doing this with the unwrapped food.

Kai was very stubborn, however, so he simply bought the food and would decide what to do with it later. Kai seemed to be enjoying their little doy out. He really seemed to like the metal tins and anything in plastic.

"What you got there Kai?" Dr. Wu asked when he saw Kai pick up a tin of peas.

"Green."

"Very good." Zane smiled as he carefully took the tin off Kai and placed it back on the shelf. The small teen slowly walked over to a man who was buying different soups. The strange gave him a funny look, a little unsettled by the brunette staring at him. He was about walking away what Kai suddenly started to pull hard on the man's red coat.

"Oh no Kai, don't do that!" Dr. Wu exclaimed as he and Zane tried to get the brunette to let go of the man. After three minutes they finally got him off. As soon as they were sure he wasn't going to try and grab the man again, they let him go and began to try and apologies to the man Kai had grabbed. The man just huffed and made some snide remark about how people like Kai shouldn't be allowed out in public. It took all of Zane's restraint to stop himself from slapping the man.

No sooner did they let Kai go, however, he wandered over to the butcher section and stared at different meats.

One of the butchers noticed him staring at his meats and recognized the teen from the news.

"Hey there, you want this?" He asked and held out a piece of wrapped meat. Without hesitating, Kai quickly took the piece of meat and started to feel the tightly wrapped plastic-covered meat in his hand. He started to put it against his lips and rubbed it against his face. Zane, Dr. Wu, and butcher could only watch him in wonder...

* * *

After they managed to lead Kai out of the grocery store, Zane and Dr. Wu took the small teen to the small, public park around the corner from the school Kai attended. The park was a very lovely place. A fresh garden of grass was accompanied by luxurious hedges and shrubs. A large fountain stood near the center of the park, spouting water in the air, and offering birds and insects a place to drink. The flowers and plants were growing without boundaries, there was not even a single weed in sight.

The hedges and shrubs reach 1.8m/6ft high, but they could do with a little trimming to balance things out.

The paths in the park were marked with a short, wooden border, offering a glimpse of the best spots. Grass and roots were starting to reclaim even all pieces of land, eager to expand their own dominion. Near the other side of the park was a large play area. There were dozens of young children and their guardians running around in the play area and having fun. They helped Kai play on the swings and the slide then they bought him some strawberry ice cream.

They did get a few odd looks from parents, wondering why a teen was playing on playground equipment meant for toddlers and smaller children.

A few people saw that he was the abused boy on the news. Thankfully, they all were wise enough to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves. The whole time they were at the park Kai had a huge smile on his face, enjoying himself. As they walked along the park's path Dr. Wu was talking to Zane about how well Kai was doing. The younger doctor asked him questions about Kai's recovery and development. They both didn't notice Kai walk off and he soon found himself in front of a large rottweiler.

Before Kai could understand what he was looking at, the dog started snarling and barking at him and the brunette's eyes widened in fear as he saw something playing out in his mind.

In his mind, a terrified five-year-old Kai Smith was sat and restrained to his potty chair back in his cell. His father was kneeling down in front of him on his hands and knees. Ray was growling like the dog Kai had seen in the park. Kai had tears in his eyes as he shook in terror, unable to move away and too scared to make a sound. His father kept snarling at the trembling boy and pretended to lunge at him again and again like he was going in for the kill.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

Zane and Dr. Wu suddenly jumped when they heard the unnatural scream and quickly turned around to see Kai curled up on the ground, cowering in fear as the large dog continued barking louder.

"Kai!" Dr. Wu cried as they ran to the teen's aid. When he and Zane got to him they saw he was mercilessly clawing his arms until they started to bleed. Zane paled when he saw this and quickly grabbed his arms as Dr. Wu tried to pull the large dog away in hopes that as soon as the dog was gone Kai would calm down...


	7. Chapter 7

After the horrifying dog incident, the doctors at the hospital decided to run some tests on Kai's brain to see just how much his brain had suffered and been damaged from his father's horrible years of abuse. Kai was hooked up to different machines and wires to monitor his brainwaves while he slept. He was secured on the bed by the chest. His arms and legs were still free. In the other room was Zane, Dr. Wu, Jay, Garmadon watching him from a nearby window.

With them was the great Doctor Cyrus Borg.

He was bound to a wheelchair but that in no way impaired his ability to work at the hospital. Cyrus Borg was one of, if not the best, leading expert on brain waves and development.

"So you're saying this boy is fourteen?" Cyrus asked as they watched him sleep, a look of pity in his eyes.

"That's right." Dr. Wu replied as the spindles on Borg's machine scribbled down some lines on the paper as it recorded the sleeping teen's brain waves.

"Then I'm afraid the critical period has passed."

"The what?" Jay asked.

"Well, the critical period hypothesis states that the first few years of life is the most important time for an individual to gain a first language," Borg explained. "If language input doesn't occur until after the end of puberty, the individual will never gain a full command of the language, especially grammar."

"Well, he hasn't officially crossed that line yet," Garmadon replied. They all nodded in agreement, but Borg still had a frown on his face.

"Guys, I think he's waking up." Zane suddenly said. They looked and saw Kai's eyes fluttering open as he started to sit up and look around the room in fear. He had small wires bandaged to his head and there were strange machines beeping around him.

"Look at him, he's scared to death, can I just go in there and make sure he's OK?" Jay pleaded with the older doctors.

"Don't you worry, he'll be back to sleep in no time," Borg reassured as he clicked the button that would send more of the sedative into the IV inserted into Kai's arm, but the brunette was starting to panic. "Now, when you isolate someone you start to see the effects in as little as 15 minutes, so judging what this boy has been through, we're gonna find some interesting stuff," Borg explained as the machines beeped.

"Jay, where are you going?" Zane asked when he saw his partner calmly heading towards the door that led to the room Kai was in.

The small teen was now crying in fear as Borg clicked the button again, hoping he would fall back asleep soon.

"I'm just going to go in, just so he knows I'm close by."

"Jay wait!" Zane called as he tried to stop him but the ginger man was already in the room. The other doctors shook his head and Borg turned back to his machine to read the data.

"Hey, buddy." The ginger man said softly, but Kai tried to pull the wires off his head. Jay tried to stop him but then Kai went from trying to take the wires off his head to pull on the leather strap that held him to the bed. "How about I sing you a song?" Jay asked quickly as he struggled to hold the teen down.

_**"Hush little baby don't you cry** _

_**Papa's gonna sing you a lullaby** _

_**Hush little baby don't say a word** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird** _

_**And if that mockingbird don't sing** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring."** _

As Jay continued to sing Kai smiled and gave a sleepy chuckle.

"Jay silly." He smiled before slowly drifting back to sleep.

"Now this is very interesting," Borg muttered as the machine finished. "Do you all see how these lines seem to mix together?" He asked and they all nodded. "Well, that's usually a sign of retardation from birth."...

* * *

After leaving the testing room Zane and Jay took Kai back to his hospital bed. After about half an hour he woke up with both Zane and Jay at either side of him. It was night now and almost all the other children in the ward were fast asleep. It was dark in the ward, with the lamp on Kai's bedside table being the only source of light in the whole room. The brunette was now wide awake and Jay and Zane were talking.

"So he said 'Jay silly'?" Zane asked as Kai played with all his toys on his bed.

"Yes, it's the first time he's called ever me by name or put two words together for that matter." Jay smiled, full of pride, as they watched Kai play with a plastic bucket and his favorite toy: a red rudder duck.

"Buck!" Kai giggled and showed them the red bucket.

"Yes, you like 'buckets'." Jay smiled, trying to get Kai to say it properly.

"Duck!" He exclaimed and showed Zane his rubber duck.

"Yes, that's your duck!" He smiled at the teen. "But what's the difference between a duck and a buck?" He asked, trying to get Kai to use actual sentences and grammar. Kai looked between the two items in confusion, unsure what Jay and Zane wanted him to do. Zane was about to say something else when he saw Krux walking over to them.

"Making more of our little research notes I see." The teacher sneered at them and turned to Kai with a sweet smile. "Hi there Kai, how would you like to spend the night at my house?"

"I beg your pardon?" Zane asked with a small glare.

"Dr. Wu said it was alright." He replied as Kai started to pull on his arm with an excited smile on his face. "This child is not simply a tool of science, it's about time he spent some time in a normal home."

"A normal home?" Jay scoffed in disbelief. "Dr. Saunders, do I need to remind you of certain comments you've made?"

"Like Krux!" Kai suddenly exclaimed.

"And Krux likes Kai too." He smiled back lovingly. "Krux likes Kai more than anyone else in the whole world."...


	8. Chapter 8

After packing up some of Kai's things so he could spend the night at Krux's house, all Zane and Jay could do was watch as Krux, with a smug look on his face, helped the brunette into his car and drove off. Once the teacher and teen were long gone the two researchers went straight to Dr. Wu's office. The old man was already expecting them, sipping tea at his desk with a relaxed look on his face when the younger doctors arrived.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" Jay shouted as soon as they burst into the office. "Letting Krux take Kai back to his house?! Need I remind you of all the comments he's been making?!"

"Listen, I do not like this either but Dr. Saunders does make a fair point." Dr. Wu explained. "Kai needs to learn what life will be like for him outside the hospital bed." He and Zane knew that the older man was right but he still had a bad feeling about it. He looked at Jay and knew his partner was feeling the same way. They didn't say anything, however, trusting Dr. Wu's judgment. The uneasy feeling didn't leave Zane, however. The platinum-haired man sighed as he tossed and turned in his bed.

He was now back at the house he shared with Jay, who was asleep in the next room.

It was around five am and he hadn't gotten any sleep. He was finally about to nod off when just then he heard the phone ring. He listened as Jay got up and answered it.

"Hello? No, I'm afraid he's still asleep." He heard Jay say to the person on the other end. "Sure I give Zane a message." The ginger-haired man said as he grabbed a pen and notepad. Zane frowned and he sat up and went to see what was going on. "What?!" Jay suddenly exclaimed in a mixture of anger and concern.

"What's wrong?" Zane asked, giving his friend a fright, but he quickly recovered.

"Kai's being quarantined over at Krux Saunder's house." He replied and Zane couldn't believe what he had just heard. He ran back into his room, got dressed, and was out the front door like a flash of lighting...

* * *

When Zane arrived at Dr. Wu's office he saw that Garmadon was already there, looking just as angry. They all waited for Jay to arrive before the older doctor could explain what was going on. In a matter of minutes, the ginger-haired man arrived as well, looking pissed. Before anyone could say anything, Dr. Wu told them that Krux had contracted rubella and Zane gasped. Rubella was a contagious viral infection best known for its distinctive red rash.

It was also sometimes called German measles or three-day measles.

While this infection may cause mild symptoms or even no symptoms in most people, it could cause serious problems for unborn babies whose mothers become infected during pregnancy.

"Kai has been staying over at his place so he has been infected as well and we can not risk infecting any of the other children at the hospital." Dr. Wu explained.

"I can't believe this!" Zane snarled as he started pacing around the office.

"Are we sure he's not lying?" Garmadon asked.

"I'm afraid he's not lying, I saw him for myself and he's definitely got something." Dr. Wu clarified.

"Yeah he's got something alright, he has Kai," Jay muttered.

"Alright, let's all just calm down for a moment." Garmadon tried to ease the growing tension. "It's gonna be business as always only for the next few days it'll take place at Dr. Saunder's house."

"Oh, and I have this to give to you." His younger brother suddenly remembered as he took out a piece of paper for his brother.

"Well, this just keeps getting better." He glared as he read the paper.

"What is it?" Jay asked and the doctor passed the note to him. "It's a request from Kai's mother!" She exclaimed.

"What does she want?" Zane glared.

"She wants to come to visit her son," Garmadon replied. "Social Services say that it's alright as long as we at the hospital think Kai's healthy enough, physically and mentally"

"And the doctors here think that he's healthy enough, so it's just a matter of arranging a date." His added. While Jay was rambling on about how this was a terrible idea, Zane just hummed in thought...

* * *

That afternoon Zane went alone to Krux's house. From the outside, Krux's house looked old but wonderful. It had been built with poplar wood with white pine wooden decorations and short, wide windows brightened up the house. The house was equipped with an old fashioned kitchen and one large bathroom. It also had a generous living room, two bedrooms, and a snug dining area. The second floor was bigger than the first, which created a stylish overhang on two sides of the house.

The second floor had roughly the same style as the floor below.

The roof was high, triangular, and layered and was covered with grey ceramic tiles. Two large chimneys poke out the center of the roof. A few round, small windows allowed enough light into the rooms below. The house itself was surrounded by grass, a huge tree in the center, and bushes on the borders of the plot. When Zane arrived at the house he knocked on the front door and waited for Krux to answer. He stood there for roughly five minutes when he then noticed something at one of the windows that looked into the living room.

He turned to it and saw that Kai was sat next to the window with a big smile on his face as he waved out to the platinum-haired man.

"Hey Kai, could you open the door for me please?" He asked, but Kai tilted his head in confusion. Zane wondered if this was because he couldn't hear him because of the glass of the window or because he didn't understand the question. Zane was about to ask Kai again when just then the front door opened and Krux appeared. Zane frowned as he started to look the teacher up and down. He didn't look like he had rubella or any illness.

"Please come in," Krux said with little to no emotion. Zane nodded and as soon as they walked into the house Kai ran out of the living room with a huge smile on his face. Zane smiled and Krux silently watched from the door.

"Zane wait!" He smiled.

"Oh yes, Zane certainly did wait." He chuckled before turning towards Krux with a forced smile. "So, how are you feeling Dr. Saunders?" He asked as Kai took Zane's hand.

"Much better, thank you."

"Front door!" Kai suddenly exclaimed as he started pulling on Zane's arms.

"Good job Kai, you're learning a lot of new words." He smiled, feeling very proud of the boy's amazing progress.

"But the word 'store' is his favorite." Krux smiled as he walked to the kitchen. "Almost every building he sees he has to stop and points and says store." He laughed lightly as he poured a coffee.

"Go store!" The brunette begged as he tried to pull Zane to the front door.

"If it's alright with Dr. Julien then it's alright with me," Krux called back and Kai looked at the young doctor with pleading eyes.

"Of course it's OK with me." He beamed and the minute those words left his mouth Kai had already pulled him out the door...


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!
> 
> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS IMPLIED SEXUAL CONTENT!

It wasn't until nightfall when Zane returned Kai to Krux's house. Zane was amazed by how much the boy had grown. While he wasn't a hundred percent the right state mentally or physically for someone his age yet, the brunette had put on some weight and the dark circles had faded from his eyes. While they were out Zane was happy to see Kai had picked up more words. He had definitely seemed to improve since Zane had seen him last night.

It was truly mind-boggling.

Zane and Krux were now in the kitchen while Kai was watching Sesame Street on Krux's old fashioned TV.

"Kai sweetie, you can watch TV for a few more minutes then it's time for bed," Krux said with a smile before walking into the kitchen where Zane was waiting for him.

"I just can't get over how well he's doing, you've really got a gift, Dr. Saunders." He said before taking a drink from the coffee he was given.

"I suppose I can empathize." He smiled weakly. "I was a very sickly child myself and always wanted children of my own but I guess it just wasn't meant to be." He explained, letting out a sad sigh. Zane frowned slightly but didn't say anything. "Now, I hope you've noticed that Kai's quite fond of... touching himself?" The older man asked nervously. Zane blushed slightly as the embarrassing memories flooded his eyes.

"Yes, I'm afraid he's even done it in public a few times."

"But you've tried to stop him?"

"Yes we have but you know Kai, he has a mind of his own."

"But children are like sponges and they copy what they're taught to do."

"Not always," Zane argued and his frown deepened. "Linguistically speaking, the seeds of language are there from birth and the only way for a child not to develop language is to... well, do what Kai's parents did and isolate him completely."

"And you think the sexual instinct works the same way?"

"I'm afraid that's not really my field of expertise," Zane replied, trying to steer the conversation anywhere else. Krux hummed in thought and just nodded slowly...

* * *

Zane growled as he fidgeted in his seat with Jay sat next to him, looking just as upset as they sat in Garmadon's office. It had been almost a week since Kai had been quarantined at Krux's house and Garmadon had called them all to his office. When they asked who, he said he had some devastating news for them. What happened next made Zane and the others felt like a bomb had hit them.

"Krux Saunders is accusing me of molesting Kai." Dr. Wu said sadly. "I went over there yesterday to check things out and Krux told me I could take Kai out to the park." He continued. "We were gone for the entire afternoon and when we finally got back Kai's hands were a bit musty from the wind, Krux looks right at him, and well..."

"He's completely out of his mind!" Jay shouted.

"I can't tell you how I felt; I mean a charge like that?!" Dr. Wu exclaimed to his brother. "I am the last person in the whole world who would do anything like that."

"Well, who'd believe him?" Zane glared.

"Yeah, you practically saved Kai, everyone in this hospital knows that and you've always treated that boy like he was your own child!" Jay hissed in anger. Garmadon and Zane nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter." Dr. Wu sighed in defeat. "Even if it was proven false the charges would still stick, people would always wonder; I do really care about that boy but you know I don't think I have any choice but to quit the team."...

* * *

The next very morning Zane went to confront Krux by himself. As far as he knew the others or the teacher didn't know he was here. As he knocked on the door he saw Kai waving at him through the window again.

"Kai, could you open the door for me?" He called to the boy, only to get the same reaction as last time.

"Just one-second sweetie, I'll be right back," Krux said as he stepped outside. He closed the door and walked up to him, already knowing why he was here.

"What's going on?" Zane asked as calmly as possible.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to see Kai today." He said as he tried to lead Krux off his lawn.

"What-"

"Your visits are tiring him." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Since when?" Zane glared, feeling his anger boiling. "And since do you decide who he sees and doesn't see? You're not his guardian!" He exclaimed. As they continued to argue, Kai's smile dropped and he stopped waving as he stared at the two people from the window in fear and confusion. Zane was the only one who seemed to notice. He wanted to try and defuse the tension, but Krux wouldn't let that happen.

"Well as a matter of fact I've applied to be just that and until Social Services make their decision Kai is to remain in my custody." He grinned before walking away.

"Dr. Saunders, don't you realize what you're doing?!" Zane shouted in desperation. "You are cutting him off from the rest of the world again, it is like he is right back in that torture house he grew up in!" He exclaimed. Krux scoff in offense and stormed towards his door. "First Dr. Wu and now me, who else?! Are you gonna go on holding him hostage for the rest of his life?!" He cried. Krux didn't say anything else and sent the younger man a smug smile.

With that, he slammed the door shut and locked it.

Zane sighed and looked back at the window to see Kai's sweet smile before Krux angrily pulled the curtains back...


	10. Chapter 10

Zane sighed as he sat in his office watching videos of Kai's lessons with him and the others on his laptop. He had hardly left his office since he and the others had been rejected by Krux Saunders. Dr. Wu had left their team a few days ago and it was confirmed that Krux was applying for custody of Kai Smith.

"I thought I'd find you here." A voice chuckled. Zane looked up and saw Garmadon smiling at him from the door. Zane just went back to his work as the older doctor took a seat next to him.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes." He replied with a sigh as he closed the laptop. "I was just reviewing the work Jay and I were doing a month ago, it's really all I can do at this point." He sighed sadly and Garmadon nodded in understanding.

"My wife Misako and I have been talking about this whole situation for a while and, well, we have decided to apply to be Kai's temporary foster parents." He smiled.

"That has to be the best news I've heard in weeks." Zane beamed brightly.

"It's not for certain yet." Garmadon quickly said. "Kai is very demanding and we already have two children and I am his therapist; but Misako does have a degree in child psychology, which is very helpful, but because I'm also a researcher on the case, it can be difficult."

"I see your problem."

"But I think it can be done." He reassured. "So if Kai's social workers give us the go-ahead then we'll give it a shot."...

* * *

Three days later and after a lot of meetings and fights, Garmadon and his family were finally assigned as Kai Smith's foster family instead of Krux. Soon, the doctor was putting Kai's things in the trunk of his car as the brunette got into the back seat with a bunch of toys on his lap. Kai was very confused by all of this, but he trusted Garmadon. Garmadon's wife Misako was sat in the passenger seat, smiling at the confused boy. Misako had ash grey hair braid into a ponytail with a snowy white streak and pale green eyes.

She wore a pale khaki utility jacket with dark brown pants and a short, dark green scarf.

"Kai!" Someone suddenly cried and they all looked up and back at the house to see Krux running over to them. The teacher had fought tooth and nail to keep Kai in his care, but it just wasn't meant to be. He had tears streaming down his face as he made his way over to the car. Garmadon glared at Krux but said nothing.

"You forgot one." He sniffed sweetly to the boy as he knelt down by the open window to pass him his favorite little rubber ducky. Kai took it and held it close it his chest. "I love you." He whimpered as the tears ran down his cheeks. Garmadon slammed the trunk shut and moved to the driver's seat of the car as Krux slowly stood up, pure, burning hatred in her teary eyes. Just before he got inside the car he looked Krux in the eyes.

"I don't know what to say." He admitted with a heavy sigh.

"Not now you don't, but you believe me this is not over yet." He promised with a snarl. "You are depriving this child of the best home he's ever had or ever will have and I'm gonna make sure you all pay if it's the last thing I do!" He roared in pain and anger. Garmadon chose not to say anything as he climbed into his car and drove off. As they slowly drove away from Krux's house Kai pointed his head out the car window. He slowly waved goodbye to Krux, who just watched as tears flowed down the old teacher's face...

* * *

It didn't take long for Kai to get settled at Garmadon's house with the doctor's family. Thanks to their jobs, Garmadon and Misako could afford and a nice, big house in a very lovely neighborhood. From the outside, the house looked grandiose. It had been built with red pine wood with spruce wooden decorations and small and large rounded windows that helped brightened up the house. The house was equipped with a state-of-the-art kitchen and two bathrooms.

It also had a large living room, five bedrooms, a large dining area, a game room, and a snug basement with a private study for Garmadon to work in.

The building was shaped like a T and the two extensions had extended into a patio reaching until the end of that side of the large house. The second floor was the same size as the first. Part of it hung over the edge of the floor below, however, creating an overhang on one side and a balcony on the other. This floor had a very different style than the floor below. The roof was low and square-shaped and was covered with dark, almost black, ceramic tiles.

A large chimney poked out the center of the roof.

Many smaller windows let in plenty of light to the rooms below the roof. The house itself was surrounded by a modest garden, with mostly grass and a few small trees and colorful flowers. After his arrival, things seemed to have fallen into a stable routine for the family. At the same time almost every day, Kai would watch from his new bedroom balcony as Garmadon went to work. Then a few minutes later his children, Harumi and Lloyd, would follow.

Lloyd was Kai's age and Harumi was two years older.

Lloyd had long, light blonde tousled hair with bright, shining emerald green eyes that many people would state could sometimes glow in the dark. He wore a dark green jacket with a white t-shirt and black pants and black and dark green sneakers. Harumi had long bleached white hair with long bangs fashioned in a bun with black chopsticks. She wore a green jacket with matching pants, a white shirt with dark red lotus flowers, and full lips painted red.

While the children went to high school and her husband went to work at the hospital, Misako would stay at home with Kai to take care of him.

After watching Garmadon and his children leave the house, Kai walked back into his room and sat on his comfy queen size bed. Scattered on the bed were his plastic toys and textbooks that Lloyd had given him. Unlike the ones Nya would sneak into his room, these books didn't have and scribbles in black marker. Even though he couldn't read he liked looking at the pictures. There were even times when he would go to someone in the house and point at one of the pictures, wondering what it was.

Sometimes Garmadon, Misako, or even Lloyd would sit with him and makeup stories with the pictures in the books.

What surprised them was when Kai started to try and copy the words that they were saying, even though he never pronounced the words correctly it was still an improvement. The brunette picked up one of the books about Antarctica that he was given this morning and started flipping through the pages. He smiled innocently as he saw the cute, fluffy baby penguins playing in the snow. Unfortunately, his small dropped when he turned to the next chapter and saw a team of sled dogs.

He turned the pages again and again but the only pictures he was were more of the sled dogs.

Some were even close up in the dogs' faces, showing their dagger-like teeth. As he stared at the pictures, all he could hear was the sound of Ray's snarling. He suddenly threw the book to the floor, in fear, along with all the other items on the bed...


	11. Chapter 11

Misako hummed a happy little tune to herself as she finished washing the dishes from breakfast. She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost time for Kai's morning lessons. She had just put the last plate away when she heard Kai's toys and books hitting the floor. She froze for a second and listened carefully. For a moment she thought maybe Kai had rolled over in his bed and knocked something over. It would not have been the first time that had happened.

Her heart suddenly jerked, however when she heard Kai sobbing loudly from his room all the way in the kitchen.

She paled in worry as she ran upstairs as fast as she could. She burst into the teen's room and froze. Kai was curled up on his bed with all his things scattered all over the floor of his bedroom. That wasn't what scared her, however. What scared her was the fact that Kai was desperately clawing at his bare arms, drawing blood, as he sobbed and howled like he was a wild animal in pain.

"Kai, what are you doing?!" She cried as she ran up to him and tried to pin him down, but the boy only howled louder as he struggled beneath her hold. Misako had to think of something and quick before Kai did any permanent damage. "Kai, watch me now! I am so angry! So very angry!" She exclaimed as she grabbed a pillow and began hitting the end of the bed as she kept grunting angrily. Kai froze and watched her quietly in fascination and confusion...

* * *

Later that day, Zane and Jay were at Garmadon's house for a visit to check on Kai's progress. As soon as he had come home. Misako told her husband what had happened with Kai that morning and he had called the other two to let them know. Now they were all in Garmadon's backyard, where a few of Kai's lessons took place when it was nice and sunny. Kai and Misako were standing on the patio and Zane, Jay and Garmadon stood in the garden to give them space.

They were all watching from the side as Garmadon recorded Misako and Kai's lesson.

She was teaching Kai how to throw a tantrum and let out his anger so he didn't try and hurt himself again. Even though they didn't want a child like Kai to throw a tantrum, Misako thought it would be best to teach him how to let his anger out in other forms. The brunette now had bandages on his arms from the scratches he gave himself.

"I know that this is going to help Kai but you might live to regret this one day," Zane warned with a smile. Kai copied Misako and was hitting a chair with a cushion as he shouted and screamed in anger, just like she told him to. Misako then told Kai to run upstairs and slam the door as hard as he could.

"You just might be right." Garmadon sighed as he finished recording...

* * *

Later that evening. Zane and Jay were sat with Kai in Garmadon's living room for his next lesson. In front of them was a large chalkboard and on it was a small sentence that Zane had written.

"Car... has... mirror..." The teen read out loud with a proud smile on his face.

"No Kai." Zane sighed. "The. Car. Has. A. Mirror." He said slowly as he pointed to each word as he said them. Jay sent his partner a small glare, not happy with how he was pushing the teen. Garmadon was standing close by, filming the whole thing. As they continued their lesson, Harumi suddenly stormed into the room.

"Have you taken my hairbrush again, Kai?!" She shouted at him angrily. Kai just stared at her in slight confusion, not knowing how to respond to her. This just seemed to make her even angrier.

"Can it wait until later?" Garmadon glared at his daughter before she could say anything.

"Well, I'm sorry Dad, but he keeps taking my things and quite frankly I have lost my patience with him!" She shouted at her father before storming off towards the kitchen. Kai looked at Zane and Jay in confusion and a hint of fear. They quickly gave him a reassuring smile, calming the brunette down. Garmadon gave them an apologetic look before going after his daughter.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Jay smiled, trying to ease the tension. Zane glared lightly at him. He wanted to keep the lesson going, for Kai's sake, but the ginger-haired man just seemed to want some fun. Kai quickly grabbed Jay's hand and pulled him toward the piano at the other end of the room.

"Is it time for a concert?" He giggled as Kai sat down next to him with a big smile on his face. "As you wish." Jay chuckled and started playing a sweet melody. As he continued to play Kai let his mind wander. He remembered his mother playing this song on their family piano when he was growing up. She would play for him and his brother Echo. Sometimes she would even let them play with her until their father came home.

"Zane!" Jay suddenly hissed quietly.

"What?! What's wrong?!" He exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat. Jay shushed him and pointed to Kai. The brunette was slumped in the armchair, fast asleep...

* * *

While Jay played the piano for Kai and Zane was lost in his thoughts, Garmadon had followed his daughter into the kitchen. He could hear Jay playing the piano for the brunette in the living room. The small teenager really seemed to love music. When he entered the kitchen he saw Harumi angrily washing dishes from dinner earlier that night.

"Hey, are you OK?" He asked calmly, but she didn't respond to his call. "I'm sure your hairbrush will turn up soon." He reassured as he hugged her from behind.

"It's not just the hairbrush Dad." She snapped.

"Then tell me what's wrong, sweetheart." Garmadon pleaded as he kissed his daughter's forehead. Harumi turned to her father and took a deep, calming breath, but her eyes burned with unshed tears. Her father waited patiently, letting her take her time.

"It's just that, everyone one at school is always walking up to me saying 'Hey, your the girl living with the Wild Child aren't you?', and it's like I don't have my own face anymore, then when I get home you, Lloyd and Mom are always with Kai now and never really spend time with me anymore!" She exclaimed as she finally broke into tears. Garmadon's eyes widened when she said that. He hadn't realized he, Lloyd, and Misako had been ignoring his daughter.

He knew that Kai needed his support but it seemed that he forgot that his family needed him too.

"Shhhh, it's alright my dear, I'm so sorry that you feel that way." He soothed as he quickly pulled her into a tight hug. "I should have noticed how you felt, how about you and me go to the fair tomorrow afternoon?"

"Just the two of us?" She asked and he smiled.

"Just the two of us."...


	12. Chapter 12

The next day was the day everyone had been waiting for. Whether it was because of hope or dread was anybody's guess at the moment. It was the day Kai would reunite with his mother, Maya. It was almost eight in the evening and Maya would be coming over to Garmadon's home soon. Zane and Jay were asked to come and met her as well. They thought it would be nice if she met the team who would be helping Kai. Everyone was rushing around the house, trying to make sure everything was perfect for Maya's visit.

They wanted to show her that her son was happy and in safe hands.

After what seemed like an eternity the front doorbell finally rang, signally she had arrived. As everyone waited in the living room, Garmadon and Misako went to let Maya inside. After the court had found her not guilty, the hospital had given her an operation to restore some of her mobility. She still needed to rest every once in a while but she had greatly improved in such a short time. Maya's nervous blue eyes darted back and forth between everyone in the room.

"Kai, Mommy's here," Misako called upstairs.

After a few minutes, Kai came walking down the stairs slowly. With Harumi's help, he was all dressed up in a nice outfit with a large necklace with chunky, colored beads Jay had bought him a few days ago. It had quickly become one of his favorite possessions.

"Kai happy Mama see." He stuttered with a smile as he hugged her. She stood there in shock before looking at Garmadon.

"W-What have you done to make him walk so funny?" She asked in shock. Now that Kai wasn't in that cell, she could finally see her son and, more importantly, the way he moved. Kai looked at his mother in confusion and then turned to Zane, but no one knew how to react. Lloyd and Harumi shifted nervously while Jay and Zane glared at Maya. Garmadon and Misako looked at each other, trying to think of what to do.

"How about dinner?" Lloyd quickly suggested and everyone agreed in a heartbeat.

Without another word, they all headed to the dining room and as everyone ate the sausages and mash potatoes that Misako made, Zane, Jay, and Garmadon tried to talk to Maya about Kai's amazing progress or ask her how she was doing but she didn't say much. It was very awkward.

"Sonic." She finally spoke up as Kai looked up at her, food dripping from his mouth. "Did I tell you that your sister moved away? I don't know where exactly; she didn't really tell me." She muttered and continued eating. The rest of the dinner went by slowly and no words were spoken. Finally, it was time for Maya to leave. As she walked to the front door Kai grabbed her hand tightly and looked at her with pleading eyes. Maya sighed and pulled her son into a gentle embrace before leaving.

After she left, Zane went to put Kai to bed.

The brunette was still upset when he went to bed, unsure why his mother seemed upset to see him, thinking it was his fault. Jay waited until Zane came back down and Lloyd and Harumi went to their own rooms while their parents cleaned up. As Garmadon and Misako washed the dishes, Garmadon couldn't help but feel angry at Maya.

"She could at least taken notice of the project!" He exclaimed to his wife.

"I guess she must be overwhelmed," Misako suggested. "Personally I don't know how I would take it if I arrived in some stranger's house and saw this stranger acting as a surrogate mother to my child." She explained and her husband sighed.

"I guess she must feel pretty powerless."...

* * *

That night, after returning from their somewhat disastrous dinner at Garmadon and Misako's house with Maya, Zane and Jay were back in their home, thinking about today's events.

"So I take it no one told her that Kai struggles walking properly?" Zane glared at the mirror in the bathroom joined to the bedroom while Jay was getting ready for bed. He was still furious with Maya for her comment when she first saw Kai since she had been arrested and the way she acted during the dinner.

"Probably; it's also good that you didn't interrogate her either."

"You understand, I'm disappointed." He huffed. "We know so little about Kai's past and she could tell us so much." He sighed as he left the bathroom and sat next to Jay on the bed. The ginger-haired man nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, but remember, the last time she spoke, she ended up in prison." He replied. "Don't forget that the court also sees her as a victim as much as they do Kai." He reminded his partner and he sighed with a frown.

"Do not you want to know why?" He asked him firmly. "I'm not talking as a scientist but as a human being and I want to understand why another living being was subjected to such torture."

"You'll have to be patient and in time we will get the answers to our questions."...

* * *

Zane and Jay smiled happily as they prepared for the day ahead. Today was a special day for the team and for Kai Smith. Today was Kai's fifteenth birthday. Since Kai had never really had a good birthday everyone wanted to make this one a day he would never forget. Zane and Jay thought it would be best if they took Kai out into town while everyone prepared for the party. They were currently doing some grocery shopping and Kai was with the friendly butcher, again.

"Here you go, Kai." He smiled as he passed the boy a meaty bone. Kai did what he would always do which was feel the meat and the bone and rub it against his face and fingers. Sometimes it was almost as if he was blind. It was like he didn't trust his eyes.

"How old is he now?" Jay asked as he watched Kai and the butcher.

"Well, according to Garmadon he's now fifteen," Zane explained. Jay just nodded and sighed sadly and watched as Zane went to tell Kai it was time to go...

* * *

When Zane, Jay, and Kai walked back into Garmadon's house later that afternoon the first thing Kai noticed how dark it was. The brunette gently grabbed Zane's arm and tried to see through the darkness, fear faintly clawing at his core. For a brief moment, he felt like he was back in that dark room, tied down, with Ray standing over him with a rage in his eyes. Before he could start to panic, however, the lights suddenly turned on. When his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden light, he saw a few people gathered around in the living room with colorful balloons, streamers, and birthday banners all over the house.

At first, Kai panicked but then he remembered he knew these people. They were Garmadon, Misako, Lloyd, Harumi, Maya, and his sister Nya.

"Happy birthday Kai!" They all exclaimed and even though he was confused, Kai smiled happily. The party was truly amazing. The small teen got a robot toy from Garmadon and Misako, a box of chocolates from Lloyd, some new clothes from Maya, a drum from Nya, some toy cars from Zane, a picture book from Harumi, a board game from Jay, and some children movies from a few people at the hospital. Zane watched with a smile as Nya did some catching up with her little brother.

She kept trying to talk to him about what was happening in her and Maya's lives.

She kept trying to get Kai to speak to her, but he was more interested in the new toys he'd been given. She then started telling Kai about when he was a baby and how he once gotten into her birthday presents and pulled the wrapping paper off them. Unfortunately, Kai didn't seem to register what she was saying. As Nya continued talking, Zane felt his mind began to wander. He started to wonder what it must be like to have only memories of pain and sorrow all your life then suddenly being thrown into a whole new world where people you've never known try and show you kindness and love you've never known.

As the party continued, Zane glanced to the kitchen and went to get a drink.

When he got there he saw Jay, Misako, and Garmadon were all waiting for him, a look of worry on their faces. Now that Kai was fifteen it meant that he had finally without a doubt reached puberty. Zane sighed as he took a seat next to Jay.

"I can't believe this happening now of all times." Misako frowned down at her coffee mug. "He only just finished toilet training yesterday and now he's fifteen."

"Well, we knew it would happen sooner or later." Jay sighed.

"Yes, but there is a silver lining to all this," Garmadon said and they all looked at him in shock. "The critical period is over so that means everything he learns now is over the line."

"I guess we're going to find out if Lenneberg's theory is correct." Jay nodded.

"It's not a theory, it's just a hypothesis." Zane smiled. "And Kai's going to prove to us that it's wrong, just wait and see."...


	13. Chapter 13

After Kai's birthday, Misako and Garmadon decided it was time he went back to school. However, because of his nasty accusations, Kai was moved to a different school from where Krux worked. When he arrived the vice-principal led Kai to a classroom full of four to five-year-olds. He was very nervous and was gripping his red, plastic, dragon printed lunchbox tightly.

"Quiet in class!" The teacher, a nice middle-aged woman called and the children fell silent. "We have a new student with us today; he's a bit older than you but he's never been to school before, so I want you to be extra nice to him, do you understand?" All of the children called out in agreement as the teacher lead Kai to the front of the class.

"Class, this is Kai Smith, and what do we all say to him?" She smiled as they all called 'Hello' before she looked down at him. "You can sit yourself down wherever you want honey."

"Sit here!" A little called and Kai silently shuffled over to her table...

* * *

Despite the fact Kai was a little unsure about this new school, he soon relaxed. The teacher was kind and he'd even befriended a few of the students. The children were confused about why a teenager was at their school, but they found him funny and sweet. After school had ended, the teacher took Kai outside to the curb where the yellow school buses were parked. Once there, Kai tilted his head in confusion at all the kids running onto the yellow school to go home.

The only vehicles he had seen were cars and ambulances when he was still living at the hospital.

"Kai, this is John." The teacher smiled as they walked up to one of the buses where a large, friendly-looking man was driving. "He's already been told where to drop up off so don't worry." She reassured the teen. Kai smiled nervously as John and the teacher helped him onto the school bus. After almost ten minutes of driving John finally pulled up outside Garmadon and Misako's house. When they got there Kai looked through the window and saw Jay and Misako waiting outside for the brunette.

"OK Kai, this is your stop," John said as he helped the teen off the bus and Jay pulled him into a hug.

The second the ginger-haired man let go of him, however, Kai ran and grabbed onto John's arm. Poor John froze and looked to Misako and Jay, not knowing what to do. He needed to get back on the bus, but he didn't want to push the teen off in case he upset him. Jay and Misako laughed before trying to pry the boy off the bus driver's arm...

* * *

"Seriously?!" Zane snickered as Jay laughed loudly. Zane tried not to, but he couldn't help but laugh as well as Jay told him what had been going on that day. He had to do paperwork so he couldn't have been there for when Kai came home or help them get the brunette off the unfortunate bus driver.

"Yeah, it must have taken us both almost two whole minutes until we finally got him loose, he really wanted to ride on that bus again." Jay laughed from inside the shower.

"How did the bus driver take it?"

"Oh, he was great, a really nice guy," Jay reassured as he finished in the shower. Zane just chuckled as he went to brush his teeth and the next day Zane went over to Garmadon's house again to continue Kai's lessons. While Garmadon was recording them Zane showed Kai some cards with words on them and told him to put them in order of a sentence. Kai smiled innocently and started moving the cards around. When he finished he looked up at Zane with a large smile on his face, but Zane had to hold back a sigh of disappointment.

The cards were nowhere near the right order for a grammatically correct sentence.

It seemed like Kai knew what the words were, he just didn't know how to put them in a sentence.

"OK Kai, I want you to try again and this time think carefully." He said. Kai tried again and as he was thinking Zane took a quick glance behind him. There were two people from the Institute of Mental Health sitting there, taking notes as they watched Kai carefully. The government had sent them to make sure the grant they had given to the hospital wasn't going to waste. Zane couldn't help but shudder at their judgemental looks. When Kai was first discovered the Institute of Mental Health had given the hospital the funds so they could teach him how to speak and behave like a normal person.

"Where duck?" Kai suddenly asked, snapping Zane out of his thoughts. The young researcher looked at the cards again and sighed heavily when he saw that they were wrong yet again.

"Why don't we take a break?" He suggested. For the rest of the day, Zane and Kai relaxed and played games. Zane kept trying to get Kai to finish his lessons to try and impress the inspectors, but the brunette was more focused on his favorite rubber ducky toy. That night, after the inspectors had left, Kai was in his room, fast asleep. Harumi and Lloyd were watching TV in the living room. Garmadon, Zane, and Misako were out on the patio, talking about the people from the institute.

They all had some scotch with them and Garmadon had a face of thunder.

"I showed them all the film material I had recorded, they sit there and watch it for about an hour and then they asked me 'so where's your research'?!" He exclaimed as he paced in front of his wife and Zane. To say he was angry was an understatement.

"Well that is what they are paying for, isn't it?" Zane frowned as Misako went back inside to get some more drinks. "Garmadon, do you think we're in danger of losing the grant?"

"No, I don't think so."...


	14. Chapter 14

Kai sighed in boredom as he looked at the word cards on the dining room table. Garmadon and his family without in the backyard, playing hockey, and having a family day while Zane was sat inside with Kai, finishing their lesson from the other day, but it seemed the teen couldn't seem focus. Instead, he was looking around the room for something to do while Zane was writing some notes in his journal. As Kai looked out the window, he saw Garmadon and his family with their hockey sticks.

His mind wandered back to that room with Ray, but for some reason, it was worst than before.

When Zane finally looked up from his journal he gasped. Zane was looking at the ground with tears streaming down his face and his nails buried themselves in his head, breaking the skin. Zane immediately reached for the boy, trying to stop him from hurting himself. However, Kai quickly back away in fear as the doctor was a monster.

"Kai, what's wrong?"...

* * *

A week after the inspectors' visit, Kai was at the beach with his mother, Zane, and Jay. The boy had a bucket full of many different shells as he walked across the beach, with Jay following close by to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Zane chuckled as he watched Kai quickly back away from the waves that rolled in. He looked at the waves in confusion and a twinge of fear. As Jay reassured the teen, Zane decided to join Maya. Kai's mother was sat on a deckchair, smiling as she watched her son watch the waves in fascination and then back away when they got too close.

Zane quietly sat on the deckchair next to her's.

"I haven't been to the sea in so long." She said, catching him off guard. "Ray would never take me or Nya." She said as she took a breath of salty air. Zane shifted nervously as the awkwardness grew. Maya just watched her son quietly.

"He was a cruel man, wasn't he?" He finally asked but she didn't answer. "Kai said something the other day; he said, and these are his exact words 'Papa hit big stick', do you know what that might mean?" He asked and she sighed.

"Well, Ray did not like noise and, one of the reasons he didn't want to have children, and Kai sometimes made noise." She admitted. "Ray had a big stick that he kept in the corner of Kai's room, which used when he was acting up."

"So how often did he beat him?" Zane asked as he tried to stop the glare from forming on his face.

"Thankfully, not very often." She sighed sadly as Jay encouraged Kai to sit down and let the waves hit him. "But Ray did have other ways of silencing him." She added sadly.

"Like what?"

"He'd growl."

"What?"

"He'd growl." She repeated. "Like an angry dog."

"And that kept Kai quiet?"

"I'd imagine so otherwise he wouldn't have kept on doing it." She sighed before frowning. "The people that Kai lives with, the Garmadon family, they don't like me do they?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then why won't they let me see Kai at their house?" She glared at the young man. "Why do you and Mr. Walker have to drive MY son all the way here so that I can spend some time with him?" She asked and Zane just sighed.

"Dr. Garmadon and his family are just concerned that it will be difficult for you to see Kai with his foster parents." He replied and she scoffed. "It's not because they do not like you, they're just trying to be considerate." He added, but Maya didn't say anything and just turned back to watch her son...

* * *

That night, after the visit was over and Maya went home, Zane was ready to claw his eyes out. Jay had gone home already and he was back at Garmadon's house with Kai and trying to get Kai to say something in a proper sentence, but he just wasn't cooperating. He just kept staring out the window.

"Come on Kai, ask me a question." He said again with a small frown of frustration. "I don't care what it is, just ask me anything, we're not going anywhere until you ask me something."

"Dark." He said.

"Yes it is dark, that's because it's late." He glared as he massaged his temples to ease the incoming headache. "So just ask me a question and we'll be done for the day and you can go to bed."

"Where John? Come Thursday?" He said, still looking out the window.

"So what you really want to ask is: 'Where will John pick me up on Thursday?'." Zane sighed as he waited for Kai's response, but the boy still kept staring out the window.

"Dark."

"Alright, let's call it a day." Zane snapped as he stood up and left...


	15. Chapter 15

Three days later, Zane was in Garmadon's office, going over their notes and research on Kai's progress since he'd been rescued. Kai, Lloyd, and Harumi were at their respective schools and Misako was relaxing at home, finally getting some downtime now there were no children in the house for the day. As they looked over their research, the two doctors didn't look happy.

"So he has stayed at this level, he's no longer developing." Zane sighed in frustration. "He has a certain vocabulary but it does not correspond to the vocabulary of a normal preschool child just entering kindergarten, he can't construct a grammatically correct sentence, and even with the words he has learned his language is strongly limited."

"Even when he's being grammatical it's not on purpose." Garmadon sighed.

"Yes, but for some reason, when he doesn't rely on the verbal language he communicates very well with people; he always finds a way to make himself understood, no matter what." Zane frowned, trying to think of a solution as Garmadon hummed in thought.

"He's also good with his hands, perhaps we can combine the two."...

* * *

Early the next morning Garmadon, Zane, and Jay came up with an amazing plan for Kai. Jay was going to teach the brunette how to communicate through the use of sign language. They were all in the backyard at Garmadon's house where Kai was sat next to Jay as the ginger-haired man showed him what to do while Garmadon filmed the entire thing. Zane stood off to the side of them, watching with a faint smile. He seemed to be smiling a lot these days, but neither he nor Jay understood why.

"Very good Kai, you're a fast learner." Jay smiled when Kai successfully copied a sentence with the techniques he had taught him. "Now why don't you say something to Zane?" He suggested and the teen turned around to Zane and thought for a moment.

 _"Kai loves Zane."_ He signed to his friend with an innocent smile and the younger doctor chuckled. The teen's grammar still wasn't perfect but it was much clearer and hopefully, with practice, he would improve and be signing proper sentences.

 _"Zane loves Kai too."_ He signed back...

* * *

Later that day, after Zane and Jay had gone to their own home, Misako was getting dinner ready for her family. Garmadon was in his office, going over the work he and the others had done while Kai was playing with his favorite rubber ducky and some of his other bath toys in the bathroom. Everyone was pleased with his new progress, but it made new challenges since only Misako really knew any sign language. Garmadon knew a little bit, but not enough.

Harumi was in her bedroom, gossiping with her friends on her cellphone.

Lloyd was sat on the front porch, reading a book for his history class. It was getting late and he was about to go inside when he noticed a car pulling up their driveway. His eyes widened when he saw the two people from the institute get out and walk up to the house.

"Mom! Dad!"...

* * *

That night Zane was fast asleep in his bed. Jay was out clubbing with a few of his old college friends. Zane was trying to sleep, but his slumber was anything but peaceful. He had sweat on his brow as he tossed and turned in his sleep. A pained scowl etched on his face as he tossed and turned. In his troubling dream, a thirteen-year-old Zane Julien sighed as he watched TV with his little brother, Echo. Their father was rushing around the house, looking for their mother's secret stash.

Once he was certain he had it all he quickly ran into the kitchen to pour all the booze down the kitchen sink.

All of a sudden the front door burst open and their mother stumbled inside, drunk as a skunk. When she saw what her husband was doing, she marched into the kitchen and started beating him. Unable to listen to his cries of pain, Echo covered his ears with his hands and clenched his eyes shut tight. Zane glared as he stood up and ran to his father's aid. However, his mother saw him coming and easily batted him away like he was an annoying wasp at a picnic.

Zane slumped down to the kitchen floor.

His head hit the corner of the counter with a sickening thud. His world was violently spinning as he struggled to stay conscious. Everything was blurred, yet his father's cries of pain and fear were clear as day. Zane somehow managed to lift his head and turned his parents. His heart almost stopped. It was no longer his father that his mother was beating to a bloody mess. It was a pale, dead-looking Kai. Zane released a strangled gasp as he shot up from his bed as fast as lightning.

He was breathing heavily in panic and his body was drenched in sweat.

It was dark in the bedroom and all he could hear was a constant ringing in his ears. After a few moments, he started to calm back down again, but he could still hear the ringing sound. He gasped when he realized that it was the house phone that was ringing. He quickly jumped out of the bed and grabbed the phone before it went to voicemail. He looked and was confused when he saw that it was Garmadon who was calling him.

"Hello?"...

* * *

Jay growled in frustration as he unlocked the front door to his and Zane's house and stormed inside. He was coming home early from her night out due to the fact some freak in the club decided to get a feel of one of his friends. When she told him to get lost the creep wouldn't take the hint. Jay defended her, only for the manager to throw him out instead.

When Jay stepped inside and saw that the entire house was almost completely pitch black.

He groaned and roll of his eyes. He knew Zane liked to save power but this was too much. He turned on the lights and was scared half to death when he saw Zane sat in the chair in front of him, all alone.

"Zane! Don't you ever do that again!" He exclaimed angrily, but his glare faulted when he saw him glaring at the floor with a brandy in his hand, completely ignoring Jay. "Zane? What's wrong?" He asked as he knelt down next to him.

"They have dropped the research grant." He snarled in rage. "The Mental Care Board has dropped the project; I kept telling Garmadon to organize his research better but he wouldn't listen!"

"What about Kai?"

"The Garmadon family have already arranged new living arrangements." Zane scoffed bitterly. "They're moving him tomorrow."

"Moving him where?"...

* * *

"I fixed up your old room for you." Maya smiled nervously as she let Garmadon and Kai back into her house. It was the same house that she once shared with her late husband Ray and their daughter Nya. It was also the same house where Kai had been so terribly abused. "Would you like to see it?" She asked and Kai looked up to Garmadon for permission. The doctor smiled sadly and nodded. Kai turned back to his mother and followed down the halls of his old home.

Once they were out of his sight Garmadon put down Kai's suitcase and left the house before they returned.

It would be easier for everyone if he just disappeared. When Maya opened his bedroom door, Kai froze when he saw what had happened to the room. It was completely different. Instead of the cold, hard, grey floor and walls, blacked-out windows, crib with the chicken wire on top, and the potty chair with restraints, he saw young child's paradise. Maya stood by the door, nervously watching him. The walls were painted a light red color, with windows shined with sunlight as white curtains fluttered in the wind.

There was a red racing car bed in the corner, toys everywhere, and under his feet was a soft, black carpet.

She noticed Kai and walked over to the bed and was caressing the plastic wrapping on the brand new mattress.

"Do you like it, baby?" She asked with a warm, mothering smile. "They just delivered it this morning, I didn't have enough time to unwrap it before you got here, but we can fix that later." She promised when all of a sudden there was the sound of a car starting. Kai quickly dashed out the room, passed his mother, and out the front door. He froze when he saw Garmadon's car pulling away from the Smith house and drive off without a second thought.

Kai could only watch with teary eyes as the car turned the corner and out of his life.

"Has he already gone?" Maya glared before walking over and pulling her son into a comforting hug. "I'm going to cook something for lunch, do want to help me, honey?" She asked, but Kai just kept staring down the road as silent tears fell down his cheeks...


	16. Chapter 16

Almost a week after Kai moved back into his mother, Zane and Jay had finally received some very good news and now they were driving up to Maya's house. As they drove down the empty street, Jay turned up the car's radio and started singing along, much to Zane's annoyance. He knew his friend was trying to lighten the mood, but he just wanted to see Kai. He hoped the teen would be happy to see them. He and Jay hoped that Kai had settled down after being moved yet again, hopefully for the last time.

Soon they pulled up outside Maya's house and saw the woman walking a man in a sharp suit out to an expensive-looking car parked a little further down the road.

"When you see the institution, you'll understand that Kai couldn't get better care." He smiled as she walked him to his car, but when she saw Jay and Zane walking up to the house she quickly looked away.

"Hello." Zane nodded.

"Hello again." She replied and turned to the man. "Mr. Jones, this is Zane Julien and Jay Walker, they've been working with Kai." She explained and the man shook their hands. Zane gave her a small frown but said nothing.

"And it seems like we can continue working with him." Jay smiled at the mother. "The Research Council granted our application to continue Kai's lessons in language and grammar."

"Do you know Peter Chang at the Research Council?" The man, Mr. Jones, smiled but they shook their heads and he sighed. "Mrs. Smith, you have my number so call me tomorrow and we'll decide what's the best action to take." He said before getting back into his car and going back to where he came. Once he was gone Zane turned to Maya with a cold stare.

"He seems like a nice man." He said with little to no emotion in his voice. "I don't quite understand what he was doing here though, care to explain?" He frowned and Jay sent him a warning glare, but before he could say anything, Kai came running out and pulled Zane into a hug. "Hello Kai, how are you?" He smiled as he hugged the boy back. When they part Kai started signing to them.

"Yes, I know you're missing Lloyd, I'm sure he misses you too." Jay smiled as they followed Maya inside. They spent an hour with Kai and it seemed the brunette had settled in nicely. Kai was giggling happily as he and Jau sat in his new bedroom. They were both sat at his desk as Jay watched him colorfully draw and scribble on a large piece of paper. Zane smiled as he watched them from the door. He silently watched them for a few more minutes before going to find Maya.

He soon found her washing dishes as her teapot bubbled and boiled on the stove.

He saw she had a scowl on her face as she glared at the dirty dishes.

"Mrs. Smith." He said but she didn't turn around to face him. "I hope you do not intend to place Kai at the institution." He glared as he crossed his arms. That made her stop scrubbing the plates and turned her glare at him.

"I have no other choice." She snarled. "He spits on the floor, stomps his feet, slams the doors and he rubs his hands over his private parts; he never used to do such things." She growled in an accusing tone.

"He never got the chance to." He glared back and she looked away in shame.

"I thought that I could take care of him again, like when he was a little baby." She muttered. "But I'm afraid that Kai has a lot of problems and I didn't understand just how bad it was." She admitted as tears started to build up in her eyes and Zane's expression softened and he sighed.

"Do you know what I would do in your situation?" He asked and she looked at him expectedly. "I would ask for Kai to be placed in a foster home, with a nice couple whose children kids have left home or whose children are old enough to help." He suggested but she just scoffed and went back to washing dishes. "I'd hate to see Kai in an institution Maya, it's too cold of an environment for someone like Kai, he needs love, he needs a family."...


	17. Chapter 17

It didn't take long for Social Services to place Kai Smith in a foster home just outside the city in the open countryside. He was sent to live with the Manning family with their two other foster children. This old couple had been fostering children for nearly twenty years. The Mannings were a very devout Catholic couple in their early fifties. Mr. Manning had dark brown hair with brown eyes and pale skin. He wore thick, brown round glasses, a grey woolly sweater, thick black pants, and a small cross around his neck.

He worked at the local garden center and was known in the neighborhood for being stiff and cold.

Mrs. Manning had curly silver hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a long, black skirt, brown boots, and a dark brown turtleneck sweater. She didn't have a job and always stayed home with the foster children. Their other two foster children were a fifteen-year-old named Cole and a 14-year-old named Skylor. Cole Brookstone had a very muscular body, with long, shaggy black hair and bushy eyebrows with very dark green eyes. He wore a black leather jacket and pants with a dark brown tank top and black heavy-duty boots.

He had been in foster care for nearly five years.

After his mother passed away due to a terminal illness, his father became too depressed to look after his son. Skylor Chen had short eyelashes and tanned skin, with very long cherry-red hair in a high ponytail and dull amber eyes. She wore a tight light orange t-shirt with light brown pants. The reason she was in foster care was that, after her father was put in prison for the next four years, there was no one knew where her mother was and there were no other relatives.

While Skylor had her own bedroom across from the Mannings, Kai shared with Cole in the attic.

That night they were all standing around the table for dinner until Mrs. Manning returned, then they turned to the door. Above every door in the house was a crucifix nailed into the wall.

"We bow our heads in prayer." Mr. Manning said and they all obeyed. All except for Kai. He didn't understand and reached for the food before Cole quickly grabbed his wrist. He did this nearly all the time and it greatly irritated the Mannings, but they did their best to try to remain calm.

"Kai, what did we just say?" Mrs. Manning glared.

"Head prayer." He replied before trying to reach for the food again, only to be stopped once again by Cole. He looked at everyone in confusion until Cole put his hands together like the others. Kai looked at his hands and back at his foster brother.

"Thank you, Cole." Mrs. Manning said and nodded for her husband to continue. The man gave Kai a quick glance to make sure he didn't interrupt again before they bowed their heads again.

"Heavenly Father, we thank you for your gifts, guide us while performing your tasks."...

* * *

The next afternoon it was a nice and sunny day. The Mannings and their foster children were enjoying it in their back garden. The garden was a well-kept patch of grass was accompanied by thriving shrubs. A small pond was built in the back right of the garden, a paradise of koi and tranquility. The flower beds were in need of some care and love but looked great nonetheless. They were home to all sorts of life. A path was marked with a short, wooden border, giving people an elegant way of exploring the garden and all it had to offer.

Grass and plants crept and crawled their way beyond their own borders, sneakingly trying to take just a little more land.

The pond had claimed this land first, as the garden was designed around it. The flower beds attracted some attention, and the shrubs did their best to take some of the attention, but the attention was always drawn to the pond. While the Mannings were tending to their garden Skylor was helping them. Kai and Cole were simply enjoying the sunshine and flowers. Mr. Manning just happened to look over at Cole and Kai and he frowned when he saw them talking through sign language.

"Cole, you know you're not aloud to use sign language." He called over to them and Cole looked away in shame.

"If you've got something to say just say it, we can't understand what you say when you talk with your hands." Mrs. Manning added, not really giving the teens a glance.

"That goes for you too Kai!" Mr. Manning snapped, causing the brunette to flinch...

* * *

The next Sunday, the Mannings and their three foster children were all dressed to go to church. The Mannings were silently praying in their heads that Kai would behave himself in the church today, like a normal person. They didn't the brunette want to make a mockery of themselves or their church. Kai didn't really what church was but he thought it would be fun.

"My grandfather died in Vietnam," Cole explained to Kai as they left the house to go to church. "He used to write to me all the time but then one day he stepped on a bomb in the ground and flew into the air."

"Flew the air?" Kai asked and Cole nodded.

"Kai." Mrs. Manning suddenly stopped with a scowl. "You know that you may not have jewelry in the church now give me the necklace." She said and reached for it, but Kai quickly backed away, clutching the beads around his neck. It was the bead necklace Jay had given him and he didn't want to give it up.

"Stop it, Kai!" Skylor pleaded.

"Give me the necklace now!" The old woman snarled as she grabbed the bead necklace and pulled. Kai started crying out and he pulled back on the necklace and he tried to hit her hand away. All of a sudden Mr. Manning violently grabbed the boy's arms with bruising force.

"That's enough!" He roared into the teen's face and Kai started shaking in fear...

* * *

Back in the city, Zane was trying to adjust to life without Kai around. In the past year, he had grown more attached to the brunette than anyone else in his life. He knew that he and Jay could still visit the teen to continue his lessons, but it didn't feel the same as before when he was living with the Garmadon family. For some reason, he and Jay found that it was hard to move on with their lives, unlike the other members of the team. Garmadon never once asked how Kai was doing when either he or Jay saw the older doctor at the hospital.

Even though he never said it, Jay could see the pain in Garmadon's eyes. It seemed they weren't the only ones missing Kai.

"So where's the little boy?" The butcher asked Zane, shocking him out of his thoughts. Whenever anyone took Kai to the store, this butcher would give him an unwrapped piece of meat to let him feel and examine. The brunette would love to press and rub the meat against his face, almost as if he was blind.

"I'm sorry, but he's moved away." He sighed.

"Oh right." The butcher said sadly. "Well, I hope he's doing alright." He smiled weakly and Zane just nodded and turned around to leave the store with his groceries, only to freeze in shock. Standing in front of him was Krux Saunders.

"Well, well, if it isn't the famous linguist himself, and you've made quite a name for yourself." The teacher sneered with a cruel smirk on his face. "You know, I read that little article that you got published, what was it called again? 'Linguistic Development of the Modern Day Wild Child'?"

"Yes." Zane nodded with a small glare.

"Catchy title, but a little insulting to Kai, don't you think?" He hissed as he pulled out the article. "You claimed that Kai can't formulate grammatically correct questions but that's a lie! When he lived with me, he asked grammatically correct questions all the time!" He shouted but Zane refused to respond as he continued to send Krux a glare. "Can you even prove that his father would hit him when he tried to vocalize?! That's not science, that's just you and our team making guesses!" He bellowed before slamming the article to the ground and storming off further into the store...


	18. Chapter 18

That morning the Mannings and their foster children were sat at the dining table, eating their breakfast. While the Mannings had some coffee and toast the children had orange juice and cereal.

"Kai, would you like some bananas with your cereal?" Mrs. Manning asked.

"No banana." He mumbled as he clutched his stomach. He couldn't explain it but his stomach hurt and he could feel something coming up his throat. He started to gag a little bit and it didn't take long for everyone else to notice his behavior.

"I-I'll take him to the bathroom," Cole said as he started to stand up.

"No, you won't." Mrs. Manning glared and Cole quickly sat back down, his eyes wide in fear. "He's just exaggerating so he can leave early, no one is leaving this table until we've all finished our breakfast." She insisted when all of a sudden Kai vomited all over the table and their breakfast. The Mannings and the other children watched in shock as he emptied his stomach on their food. As soon as the teen was done, he was trembling and his eyes stared in shock for a moment.

He hadn't thrown up this bad before because when he was rescued the doctors were very careful with how much they fed him.

As soon as he got over his shock, Kai grabbed his spoon again and before anyone could stop him, Kai took a bite of his cereal, which was also covered in vomit. Mrs. Manning, Cole, and Skylor gagged and looked away in disgust. Kai looked at them all in confusion, not sure what he had done wrong as he swallowed his breakfast. Mr. Manning suddenly stood up with a murderous look on his face, walked over to the teen, and slapped him hard in the face...

* * *

That night Zane went to visit Kai at his new foster parents' house. The reason he hadn't been soon was that he wanted the teen to get properly settled first before he came to continue Kai's lessons, but he was horrified by what he had heard. It took all his willpower not to punch the Mannings in the face right there and then.

"And furthermore I told him he is not allowed to receive anymore visits from his mother." Mr. Manning explained to Zane as he and his wife talked with the young doctor on their doorstep.

"Why not?" He asked as calmly as possible.

"Because he looks forward to the visits." Mrs. Manning said as if it was obvious and her husband nodded. "The only way to raise a child is to deprive it of something that it values."

"Mrs. Manning, have you not been told that this boy has an unusual background?" He growled.

"We have two other foster children with equally unusual backgrounds." She glared. "They don't go around eating their own vomit."

"It's the act of an animal." Mr. Manning added in disgust. Zane took deep breaths to calm himself down before he went up to the attic where Cole and Kai were sitting alone in their room. Kai was curled up in his bed, facing the wall, while Cole was sat on his own bed, watching the brunette with worry.

"Kai? Are you OK?" He whimpered, but the smaller teen didn't move an inch. Just then the stairs creaked and Zane came in. He immediately rushed to Kai's bed and gasped. The young teen was pale, sweaty with dark circles around his eyes and he pressed his lips into a thin line, but what angered Zane the most was the red handprint on his cheek.

"Hey there Kai." He smiled softly and Kai hugged him tightly before leaning back onto the bed. "I heard about your little accident, do you want to tell me about it?" He asked gently but Kai shook his head and started shaking in fear. "Are you keeping your mouth closed like that because you are afraid of vomiting?" He asked and he nodded. "Well, then you can use the sign language Jay taught you."

"Mr. Manning doesn't want him to use sign language." Cole suddenly said.

"Mr. Manning can go to hell!" Zane shouted, but sighed when both teens flinched away at his tone. "Please don't tell Mr. Manning I said that, I don't want him to take it out on Kai." He pleaded and Cole nodded in understanding. "Talk to me," Zane said to Kai firm, but with concern, but he covered his mouth with his hands. "Please Kai, just talk to me." He pleaded but he shook his head. Zane just sighed in defeat...

* * *

As soon as he had gotten back home, Zane was immediately on the phone with Garmadon. After he had left the Mannings' house and came home the leash on his temper had snapped and he punched the nearest wall. Jay had asked him what was wrong and he was just as angry when he found out. He wanted to go over there, punch the Mannings and take Kai somewhere safe. He knew, however, that doing that would make everything ten times worse.

Their only hope was Garmadon would do something about this.

"Garmadon, if you would just look him you would understand!" Zane growled into the phone as Jay watched from the kitchen. "Just take him back to the hospital, this home is the worst place you could have chosen!" He exclaimed and Jay flinched when he heard Garmadon shouting from the other end of the line. "I'm not exaggerating in the slightest, this is a real crisis." He pushed and groaned as Garmadon argued. "We'll figure that out later, but first we need to get him out of there; right, thanks." He sighed heavily as he hung up the phone.

"Is he gonna help?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, he's gonna help."...


	19. Chapter 19

When it was time for their next visit, Jay decided to go around with Zane to the Mannings house. When they got there, however, Kai refused to leave his room. While Zane went to get Kai out of his room so they could start their lesson, Jay was downstairs with Mrs. Manning. Jay looked around the house and to him, it looked like the Pope was living here. As he waited for Zane to return Mrs. Manning was making Jay a glass of milk.

"So you're dating Dr. Julien?" The elder woman asked as she handed the glass to the man, disdain obvious in her voice.

"Yeah, we live in sin." He chuckled nervously as the woman gave him a glare. Meanwhile, up in the attic, Kai was curled up in his bed, facing the wall as Zane sat on the foot of his bed, gently rubbing his sweaty back. He didn't want to leave Jay with Mrs. Manning but he didn't want to overwhelm the boy. Even though Kai and Jay were close, Zane was worried if they both were in the bedroom, Kai might be more stressed. Cole was sat on his own bed, watching them.

"Kai? Do not you want to see Jay again? He's just downstairs with Mrs. Manning and he really wants to see you again." He smiled but Kai didn't move. He was about to say something else when he felt Cole tap him on the shoulder.

"Kai has been hurting himself." He whimpered and made scratching motions on his arms. "He does this all the time and he doesn't stop, even when the blood comes out." He explained and Zane's eyes widened as his blood went cold.

"Kai, can I see? Please?" He said in a firmer tone and carefully turned the brunette onto his back so he was facing him. When Kai offered no resistance, Zane started rolling up his sleeves. He almost threw up when he saw the long slashes on Kai's, cold, pale arms. They were clearly made by the teen's bloody fingernails that the Mannings had failed to trim and some of the cuts were still bleeding...

* * *

After seeing the horrible state Kai was in during his short stay at the Mannings, Zane drove straight over to Kai's Social worker's, a man named Ian, office. The middle-aged man was listening with a bit of a bored expression on his face. While Zane was visiting the social worker, Jay was attempted to get Garmadon's help but the older doctor kept saying he couldn't do anything. Neither Zane nor Jay could figure out whether he was being honest or not.

Now, however, it seemed Zane was facing the same problem.

"If you made a visit to the Mannings, you would realize that he had to be moved immediately." He pleaded. "It's terrible there! Kai refuses to eat and he refuses to speak."

"It sounds likes he's the problem, not the foster parents."

"Do you know anything about this boy's unusual background?" Zane growled as he clenched his fists. "I think that you'll find that it is a unique case." He added but Ian just scoffed.

"All children are unique, do you see the files here?" He said and pointed to the large pile of files on his desk. "In each one there is a child; they have lost their parents, subjected to all kinds of abuse." He listened and Zane sighed.

"I feel sorry for them all, I do, but try to get into this child's story." He begged, starting to get desperate. "Then you would realize that Kai Smith is in a class all on his own."

"So the children should be divided into classes now?" Ian asked and Zane let out a heavy, defeated sigh...

* * *

After failing to get support from Kai's social worker, Zane drove straight to the Garmadon family house. He was now stood on their doorstep late in the night repeatedly pressing their doorbell and knocking on the door. After almost an hour, a very annoyed Garmadon finally answered the door.

"Just five minutes." Zane glared at the older doctor as he stood in the cold night. "Five minutes of your time, that's all I'm asking, please." He pleaded. Seeing the desperation in his voice, Garmadon sighed and they went into his study. The rest of the house was dark and silent, telling Zane that everyone else was asleep.

"What do you want Zane?"

"I understand that it was difficult, you and Misako sacrificed a lot when Kai lived here," Zane replied. "You may not think I can understand it but I think I can and I understand why you don't want to get involved again."

"Zane-"

"If I had any other way out, I would not ask you to do this." He said, the desperation now clearing in his voice as he felt his eyes begin to water. "If I was a doctor or a social worker, I could have gone back to the Mannings and brought him to the hospital, but I'm not." He was sobbing now. "Help me protect him from himself! If you could only see how bad he is! Please Garmadon, no one else will do it."

Garmadon stared at him for a few minutes in silence, before letting out a heavy sigh...

* * *

With Garmadon's help, Kai was removed from the Mannings' house within the next twenty-four hours. He was immediately taken straight to the hospital for his injuries, but he was still scared. When Zane visited him in the hospital he saw the smaller boy curled up in his bed. He had bandages around his wrists and was dressed in a children's hospital gown. He looked almost the same as when he was first saved from his parents' house. As he approached the bed, Zane placed his hand gently on Kai's shoulder and the teen almost jumped out of the bed with wide, terrified eyes.

"Hey Kai, don't worry, it's just me." He whispered as softly as possible and he petted his brown hair. Kai just curled back up in a ball and stayed quiet as the day he first came in. After several failed attempts to get Kai to talk or to use sign language Zane gave up and left the teen's room to get something to drink. As he drank his coffee he saw Garmadon walking over to him with a woman with a clipboard.

"Hello Zane, this is Jane Howarth." Garmadon smiled as Zane and Jane shook hands. "She's the new social worker who will be taking over Kai's case." He explained before giving them some privacy. When the older doctor left, Zane and the social worker went into the hospital's cafe to talk.

"I understand that you were also concerned about the other two children living with the Mannings and I can safely say that their cases are currently under investigation as well." She explained.

"It would be better to know that they had moved out of there."

"Investigations take time and it will be easy to find new homes for them." She sighed. "As you probably know, however, relocating Kai will be much harder; we need to make sure that this situation isn't repeated."

"I agree."

"I don't know how'd you react to this suggestion, but what do you think about Kai living with you and Mr. Walker?" She asked nervously but with a hint of hope in her voice.

"What?!" Zane cried in shock.

"You two have a good relationship and you and Mr. Walker have known Kai for quite a long time." She smiled softly. "You both also have a clear understanding of Kai's needs, we'll probably never find anyone who knows him so well."...


	20. Chapter 20

That night, when he got home from visiting Kai at the hospital, Zane and Jau sat down and seriously talked about taking Kai into their custody and care. Jay absolutely loved the idea but Zane had his doubts. Even though he did care about Kai and wanted him to be safe and happy, Zane had to be realistic.

"Why don't you wanna do this?" Jay pouted.

"I do want to take him in, but he's very demanding." Zane reasoned. "It's not just about him but also about us; how are we going to graduate if we are going to have to take care of Kai?"

"We'll think of something." He reassured and with his encouragement, Zane finally agreed to let Kai live with them...

* * *

The next day Zane arrived at the hospital with Kai's favorite rubber duck to tell the brunette the good news. After talking with his social worker, Kai Smith was now going to be living with him and Jay. As he walked down the corridors a smile grew on Zane's face, but when he came to Kai's room, he was shocked to find another family there. The family gave him a confused look, wondering why a stranger was in their room.

"I'm so sorry, I must have come to the wrong room." He frowned slightly and quickly went to the front desk to see where Kai was, only to find out the teen had been moved. "Where? To another hospital?"

"I don't know." The lady at the front desk glared in annoyance.

"When was he moved?!"

"He was moved this morning, that's all I know."

"Someone must have approved it!" He growled at her.

"As a matter of fact, he was accompanied by his mother."...

* * *

As soon as the lady at the hospital's front desk told him what Maya Smith had done, Zane had gotten into his car and drove over to the Smith family's house to try and talk some sense into her. When she opened the down she had a scowl on her face, already knowing why the young man was standing on her doorstep.

"He isn't here." She snarled before Zane could say anything.

"Do you mind if I ask where he is?" Zane asked through clenched teeth, trying to keep his temper in check.

"In a place of my own choosing and do not try to talk about what is good Kai! You don't know what was good for my son and you never did!" She shouted in rage and tried to slam the door in his face. Zane gritted his teeth angrily and used his foot to block the door.

"Maya please, I have driven all the way out here, can I please just come in and talk to you?!" He pleaded. She glared for a moment before opening the door and allowing Zane to enter the house...


	21. Chapter 21

After Maya had let Zane inside they both sat in the living room, silently facing and glaring at each other. Zane remained as silent as possible as he waited to hear what she had to say. He hadn't seen or heard Kai anywhere in the house, so Zane knew he wasn't here. He'd have to hope Maya told him where the teen was. Neither of them had said a word yet. The atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"The way you hounded that child." She finally said with a cold scowl. "'Don't say it like this Kai, say it like that', and all those tests you did on him; that's why he couldn't get along with the Mannings! You and those doctors pushed him so much that he didn't know which way was up anymore!" She shouted and Zane had to take a deep breath to cool his rage.

"Maya, that's just not true." He replied. "Kai loved working with me and the others; there were days when I didn't even want to work and he made me go on." He smiled weakly at the memory but she scoffed.

"Because that's the way you trained him." She glared daggers at the young doctor. "He was never really a person to you people, to you he was just a little science project." She hissed. Zane's defenses finally fell down and tears built up in his eyes.

"No, you're so wrong Mrs. Smith." He sniffed as he fought the tears and looked her in the eyes. "I needed him in my life, from the moment I first laid eyes on him."

"Well, you won't be laying eyes on him anymore." She spat coldly. "If you going anywhere near my son, I will contact my lawyer, that also goes for the Garmadon family, Dr. Wu, Mr. Walker, and anyone else in the hospital; he is my son and I decide what's going to happen to him." She stated and Zane felt his world crumble.

"He is going to think that I abandoned him." He said with pleading eyes, but her glare never faulted. "Please Maya, can I just say goodbye to him one last time?" He begged. He could just see Kai's distressed face when he found out Zane wasn't coming back.

"No goodbyes, no nothing, just go back to where you came from and stay there" She hissed venomously. Zane gritted his teeth as he glared at the mother. He then stood up, grabbed his bag, and walked to the front door, but just before he left he turned back to Maya, who was still glaring at him. He quickly wiped his tears away, trying to be strong.

"Mrs. Maya, there's one thing I've always wanted to ask you but it never felt right to do it." He said as he took a breath. "Why? Why did your husband isolate Kai?"

"I can't tell you that." She gasped in horror.

"Can't or won't?"

"How can I explain something when I don't understand it myself?" She asked. "No one understood Ray, except maybe his mother, this was her house long before it was Ray or mine." She reminisced and as she talked Zane carefully took a seat. "When Kai was a baby, we were as much here than we were at our own home; she seemed to belong in the wild west, even in her old age she carried a pistol; Ray was so fond of her, I think he loved her more than he loved me."

"She sounds like quite the character."

"Yes, she was." She smiled weakly, but it dropped. "Ray was never the same after she died, it happened right outside this door, she was walking across the street to get ice cream when she was hit by a drunk driver, killed instantly."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I swear she wasn't in the ground more than a week before Ray moved us all in here, he wanted to keep her room the way it was so we had to sleep in the living room, well, all except for Kai, he had the room in the back, it was almost as if Ray was giving him some kind of special treatment."

"It sounds like he projected the feelings he felt for his mother onto Kai," Zane said and she frowned.

"One day I took Kai to the doctors and the doctor told us our son might be retarded; that was it as far as Ray was concerned, he said if those doctors ever got a hold of Kai we'd never get him back and that he'd probably never live to pass the age of four, but he just kept getting bigger and older." She explained and she flinched as she remembered that day. "I had just had my accident so Ray would take care of him, I knew Kai needed help, Ray always walked around with the gun he inherited from his mother, the one he used to kill himself within this very room." She sighed and smiled slightly. "Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I'd hear the floor creaking in the silence and I can swear that it's Ray walking around with his gun in hand."

"He was trying to protect Kai as if he were a princess locked in a tower." Zane realized.

"Ray never really trusted doctors." She sighed before glaring at him again. "In this respect, I have become like him."...

* * *

After his talk with Maya, she walked him out of the house and watched him walk down the driveway towards his car. He kept looking at the ground as tears flowed from his eyes. He knew after he drove away from here he'd probably never see or hear from her or Kai ever again. It was raining heavily now as if the world was crying for Zane.

"Good afternoon Mr. Julien." A cheery voice suddenly called out to him. Zane looked up and was shocked to see Krux Saunders walking up the driveway with a smug grin on his face. Zane looked back at Maya and saw her smiling at the teacher. All the pieces suddenly clicked in his mind.

"So how long's this been going on?" He growled.

"From the moment I read that little article of yours about Kai," Krux smirked as he walked right past the younger man and towards the house and Maya. "I just thought Mrs. Smith should know the kind of people looking after her son." He shrugged and it was then the flood gates opened.

"THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT ARTICLE!" Zane cried. "YOU WERE JUST LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE! YOU DIDN'T CARE WHAT IT WAS JUST AS LONG AS IT HELPED YOU GET KAI BACK!" He shouted and Krux suddenly turned to him with a glare.

"And no thanks to you and your pathetic team poisoning Social Services against I never will! Who's sorry now?!" He roared as he and Maya went back inside the house, slamming the door shut in Zane's face. All Zane could do was stand there in the cold rain as tears finally fell from his icy blue eyes...


	22. Chapter 22

Zane sighed as he adjusted his thin glasses. He was going over his dozens of files on his desk in the lecture hall at the private college he now taught at. He sighed as he closed his eyes and let his head dropped, feeling the calls of sleep beckoning him. Suddenly the bell rang and Zane quickly stood up as dozens of college students flooded in. He calmly waited for them to take their seat before he turned to the giant whiteboard to begin his lesson.

All the students went quiet when he cleared his throat.

"Today we will be discussing the ability to learn and understand language; language is the method of communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way, but the language is not just words, it's grammar and sentences and how you automatically know when something is a sentence." He explained before he sighed as he turned on the projector. "Now, we're going to be looking at a special case known as the Genie Project." He said and a picture of Kai Smith when he was first found appeared.

"Now, when we think of a genie we think of a magical being who has been imprisoned in a bottle or lamp, only to be released into a whole new world."...

* * *

After another day at work, Zane returned home to his now-husband Jay and their two daughters Tanya and Isabella. After they talked about becoming Kai's foster family, but then the teen was taken away, the idea of having children around never faded and after a couple of years, Zane and Jay decided to adopt and were so happy when they were given the girls. When they had adopted Tanya Jay decided to quick college to be a stay-at-home parent.

Tanya was five years old and Isabella was two months old.

Tanya had long black hair with tanned skin and aqua blue eyes. Isabella had short dark red hair with bright brown eyes. While Jay was making dinner, Zane was sat in the living room, looking over the work he had done with Kai again. Although it has been a long time, almost 7 years to be exact, he still hopes that he'll meet Kai again. When Zane thought about it, he would wonder what he would say to him. He would ask forgiveness because he disappeared so the boy would understand that it was not his fault.

Then Zane would ask what he's doing and if he's happy and Zane would hope, of course, that he answered yes.

Zane sighed as he looked at Kai's red rubber duck, the only thing had had of the boy. The damage to Maya's body had appeared to be more severe than the doctors had first thought because even though she had had surgery, the pain had returned and she now resided in a nursing home in the middle of the city. She still refused to let Zane, Jay, or anyone from their old team see Kai. Even Nya tried to convince her mother to change her mind.

When that failed, Nya moved out of the city and the last anyone heard she had graduated college and was now engaged.

The last time Zane had seen Maya was when she was with Krux Saunders. Zane growled as he thought about the old teacher. Krux had continued to harass Zane, Garmadon, Dr. Wu, and all their families until his sudden death last year in a car accident. Even though he hated him, Zane couldn't help but feel bad for his unfortunate death. The last he had heard about Kai, he was told the teen had been moved into an adult care home somewhere in the city.

Kai's inability to master a language proved the legitimacy of the critical period hypothesis.

Regardless of that, however, Zane still wanted to give Kai all he had lost over the years. Now he was a father he knew what love truly meant, but he knew it wasn't possible to undo all those years of Kai's pain. Zane could only concentrate on things he could control. It is the same for all of us. As his mind wandered, Zane was suddenly when Isabella started crying upstairs.

"I'll get her." He called to Jay in the kitchen before getting up. He carefully stepped over Tany and her dolls and went up the stairs towards his younger daughter's nursery. Once inside he picked her up and gently rocked her.

_**"Hush little baby, don't say a word** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird** _

_**And if that mocking bird don't sing** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring** _

_**And if that diamond ring turns to brass** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass** _

_**And if that looking glass is broke** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a velvet cloak** _

_**And if that velvet cloth is course** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a rocking horse** _

_**And if that rocking horse won't rock** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a coo-coo clock** _

_**And if that coo-coo clock won't tick** _

_**Papa's gonna buy you a walking stick** _

_**And if that walking stick falls down** _

_**You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."...** _


	23. BASED ON TRUE EVENTS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER

This story was based on the true, tragic story of Genie Wiley. If you want to find out more about this case, a link to a video talking about it is [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E) There was also a movie about it called "Mockingbird Don't Sing" and I will leave a link to the trailer [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mxn0ScpGTo)

I hope you all enjoyed the story and have a good day!


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